


Even Lucifer Was Once An Angel

by weeblesbewobblin



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Hal Jordan is kind of an asshole, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Other characters not mentioned - Freeform, Swearing, alien attacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:08:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21994246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weeblesbewobblin/pseuds/weeblesbewobblin
Summary: When Earth is threatened by aliens, The Justice League goes outside the box and recruits the help of the vigilante Red Hood. But, does he want to help them? After all, neither party approves of the other's methods. But with Earth hanging in the balance, the anti-hero must decide: does he want to fight on the side of the angels or remain with his demons?Also posted on FF
Comments: 31
Kudos: 153





	1. The Vote

What came first the hero or the villain? Well, it could be argued that the hero rises to fight the villain or the villain rises to challenge the hero. Don't understand? Here's an example: if Bruce Wayne never wore the pointy eared cowl, would the Joker even have started to terrorize all the civilians in Gotham?

Where's this going? Well, here's the next question: if the Justice League didn't vow to protect Earth and the rest of the universe with all their powers, would the aliens that are currently coming to conquer the third planet of the solar system even have considered doing so?

Dick would argue that what the Justice League is doing is great and other adjectives that Damien would have gagged at. Speaking of the demon brat, he would have just made his tt sound and say something along the lines of his time being wasted by an imbecile. Tim would go quiet and ponder the question so long that he would forget about it. Bruce would simply grunt in response, ignoring the question all together. And if anyone had some sort of clue as to where Jason was, he would most likely argue that heroes are doing more harm than good. Of course, it would be worded a lot differently and with several colorful words Alfred wouldn't approve of.

The said Justice League was currently holding a meeting in a space station orbiting Earth, discussing the best way to take care of the aliens.

"I could attempt to make communication. Perhaps we could work something out." Superman offered, receiving a snort from green lantern.

"Yeah, sure, go for it. It's been a while since I saw your ass get kicked" he snickered. He had a point, whoever or whatever these aliens were, they matched the kryptonian's strength and there was an army of them. So, they were in quite the predicament and have been discussing options for several hours with no solution.

"I think we need to bring in the titans and all the young ones" Flash broke the silence and all heads turned towards the speedster.

"You're kidding, right?" Green Arrow said, taken aback by the comment. "They're not ready for this. Hell, I don't think we're ready for this."

"Exactly. That's why we should bring them in." This time, everyone turned to face Batman with bewilderment on their faces.

"Please explain yourself, Batman," Wonder Woman spoke up for the group.

"Green Arrow was right. We're not ready for this. We are severely outnumbered and we don't have enough strength to make up for it. So, it would be beneficial to get as much assistance as possible. I will be pulling the vigilantes from Gotham in to help and I suggest you all do the same with your respective cities and allies." Batman spoke with such authority and power that the room couldn't bring themselves to argue. Flash mouthed thank you to the billionaire and he received a nod in return. Then Aquaman cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, but I think you need to clarify. Do you mean that you're bringing in all the vigilantes on Gotham or all the heroes? Because there is a difference. Particularly a one-person difference," he stressed. Everyone knew who Arthur was talking about. After all, it has been a topic of discussion several times at the table. Without turning around, Bruce heard Nightwing push himself off the wall where he was leaning against with Arsenal, Starfire, Zatanna, Raven, Tim, and Damian (technically he was supposed to be with the other sidekicks, but he refused to be with "children who have the same mental capacity of sheep"). Bruce held up his hand, signaling Dick to stand down… for now.

"I believe it would be beneficial to bring him in as well. I'm not asking you to consider him a hero. However, I ask you to cease viewing him as a criminal. I may not approve of his methods, but I cannot argue with the results." Bruce spoke calmly, trying not to add fuel to the fire. Key word: trying.

"How is he not a criminal?" Cyborg argued, "He kills."

"Killed." Batman corrected, "We have reached an accord. He is allowed to remain operative in Gotham as long as he doesn't kill."

"Like I said before, we need all the help we can get." Flash added. Superman had a thoughtful look on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly cut off by Shazam.

"What makes us so successful is that we work as a team. If I recall, he acts alone and isn't very… uh, let's say agreeing. So, if we do allow him to join us for this, he must be willing to cooperate with others. Can you guarantee us this, Batman?" He asked, not hostile. The problem was Bruce couldn't. It was hard enough to get along in Gotham, and majority of the time, there was an entire city between them. He looked back towards Dick, whose facial expression told him he was thinking the same.

"Arsenal can." Everyone turned towards Clark as he looked towards the archer in red. "You were in association with him. What can you tell us?" Roy cleared his throat.

"Well, to be unbiased, uh, I would say that, umm" he started slowly, trying to come up with the right words. Robin rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that caused Nightwing to gently whack his arm. "Ok. So, for the most part, if it comes down to it, he's willing to do whatever's necessary to get the job done. However," Roy hesitated, unsure of whether to paint his best friend in a good light or to tell the truth. It wasn't that he was bad, it's just he had certain qualities that the league might not find …favorable. He sighed and looked towards Dick, who gave a sympathetic smile of reassurance. He knew the internal conflict Roy was going through.

"Alright, I'm just gonna tell you how it is. What I have to say about him isn't important. And all this back-and-forth you guys are doing is equally as pointless. Why? Well, at the end of the day, he is the one who decides whether he'll be a part of this shindig. Not me, not you, him."

"I don't follow" Martian Manhunter tilted his head in question.

"What Arsenal is saying," Nightwing stepped in, putting his hand on Roy's shoulder, " is that if my brother does not want to work with the league, he won't. Nothing would change his mind, 'cause if there's one thing he is, it's stubborn as hell. The league all exchanged looks and Dick added one more thing.

"However, I do suggest we try to get his help. Especially since he would probably end up taking on these aliens by himself if we don't work with him. And not that it matters, but personally, I believe he would probably be able to pull it off."

"Yeah right," Green Lantern scoffed. He looked towards Batman and saw no evidence of the disbelief that was on almost all of their faces. "Right?"

Batman cleared his throat and this is when Tim decided to interject.

"Most likely. If he sets his mind to something, it tends to get done. Batman just won't admit Nightwing's right because that means risking damage to his ego." Jaws dropped open at Tim's direct offense to easily the most terrifying person in the history of the universe. Bruce slowly turned his chair to face Tim and gave him the oh-so-famous Batglare™. Tim held his gaze for approximately .000004 seconds before losing the battle of wills. Bruce glanced towards Dick and saw his eldest fail to hide the smirk that was increasingly growing on his face. Even Damian looked down to hide his amusement from his father, and more importantly Tim (he didn't want to give the moron the satisfaction in thinking he made the clearly superior of the two laugh). Diana cleared her throat and the room turned their attention towards her as she stood.

"Very well. If no one has any more to say," she paused just in case, "then I believe it's time we voted. All in favor of gaining assistance from ALL other heroes and vigilantes, raise your hand." Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Flash, Starfire, Arsenal, Nightwing, Shazam, and Red Robin raised their hand, leaving Green Lantern, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Zatanna, and Raven with their hands down. "Well, eleven to six means we call everyone in," she announced.

Everyone got up and left whilst talking with each other, everyone except for the heroes of Gotham. Batman used two fingers to draw in his allies. He first looked to his youngest (and only biological) son.

"I noticed you didn't vote. They would have respected your opinion, you know."

"My vote would not have made a difference."

Bruce hummed in response before moving on to Tim. But before he could get a word out, Tim was already rambling.

"Bruceiamsosorryididntmeantosaywhatisaiditjustsortaslippedoutandicouldntstopmyselfandilldowhatevericantomakeupforimsososososorry—"

"Tim," he held out his hands in front of him, "calm down. It's alright, just don't do it again, got it?"

"Yesyesyesofcoursewounthappenagainthankyou—" He saw Bruce's raised eyebrow and closed his mouth, counted to three, then gave a swift nod of his head. Maybe he shouldn't have drank three coffees in thirty minutes.

Bruce then turned to Dick, who stood in between Tim and Damian, and asked, "Would you be willing to find out where he is? Despite how I made it appear to the other League members, we aren't exactly…" He trailed off, unsure of what word to use. But, Dick got the message all the same.

"Of course! It's been a while since I saw him. I'm sure he'll be glad to help!" Damian snorted and Dick's ear-to-ear grin fell slightly.

"Dick, just get a location and we will take care of the rest."

"Whose we?"

"Me and some members of the League. They'll want to be there, and as much as i am against that, I know I'll get a headache trying to convince them otherwise and they'd probably go anyways."

"Alright, remember, just be patient, understanding, flexible… essentially everything you're not and you'll be fine." Bruce gave him a pointed look and Dick smiled sheepishly. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose while he pointed towards the door.

"Just go." Dick turned and briskly walked out, his usually smile back in its place. He, for one, was excited. Bruce was not. It's been a long time since he saw his wayward protege (too long in Alfred's opinion) and he had a feeling that this meeting would not go well. He looked at the most recent Robins and gestured for them to follow as he made his way to the tube to send them back to the Cave. It was Tim who spoke up first.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No."

"Doesn't he hate the Justice league?"

"Yes"

"Are you gonna give more than one-word answers to my questions?"

Shrug

"Hey, not cool." Bruce was glad Tim and Damian were behind him, that way they didn't see his smile. After all, Batman does not smile.

"So, let me get this straight," Damian started as they entered the familiar area and approached the famous Batmobile, "we're about to go and try and convince a crazy psychopath who hates the League and everything they stand for to join the League in battle?! Something definitely doesn't seem right here."

"He's not a crazy psychopath," Tim argued.

"He's literally tried to kill you numerous times in the past."

"He's changed."

"God, your naivety is pathetic, Drake."

"Enough," Bruce watched as Tim and Damian opened their mouths to continue, "Both of you." They snapped their jaws shut, but it didn't stop them from giving each other death glares. Bruce shook his head and sighed as he entered the car, the two of them following suite. The Batmobile roared to life and sped out of the cave to go on their nightly patrol.

As the city came into view, Bruce thought about their plan and the more he thought about it, the less he liked it. But still, he voted for it, or rather for him. He shifted his gaze towards the rooftops, his mind taking him back to simpler times of running across the city with a young boy who could always make him laugh. Now, all of that was gone. That boy was grown up and filled to the brim with anger. Oh, what he would do to try and help fix all that damage. But, it was made very clear that Bruce had to 'stay the fuck away.' He felt the anxiety rise in his chest as the night went on and the closer it got to having to speak with him— Jason Todd, the infamous Red Hood.


	2. The Confirmation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not a good night for Jason. He gets several, rather unwelcomed, surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning to those who don't like swearing, sorry but y'all know who this is about and swearing is pretty much in his DNA. And I wrote his thoughts throughout the chapter, but there's no special marking. You'll know them when you read them

"Rise and shine!"

The man hanging from the ceiling startled from the cold water thrown at him. He blinked a bit to clear his vision and take in his surroundings. It was some abandoned apartment on Crime Alley on 58th and Washington. Probably the one that had the fire based on the scorched marks on the wall. If it were anyone else hanging there with their feet barely touching the ground, they would be completely lost and confused. But knowing Gotham like the back of your hand since childhood comes in handy.

"Alright, buddy, time to answer some questions." Oh right. The man shifted his gaze to the piece of filth who "accidentally" found him snooping in his office a couple of blocks over. Carlos Orlando. Sex trafficker. What a disgusting son of a bitch. Wait. Stop. Don't go down that road. You've been doing good, don't let this fucker mess it up. He shook his head and decided to focus on something else. Two guards in front of him. One behind. Wow, they really underestimated him. Then again, he wasn't in his normal attire to signal that he is a threat. Nope, just an ordinary red hoodie, which was kinda ironic the more he thought about. The only reason he didn't go after Orlando directly, guns blazing, was because the man knew he pissed off the wrong person in Gotham and went into hiding. So, by going undercover, he dragged the son of a bitch out from whatever hole he was hiding in. He was roughly pulled back to the situation at hand. Literally. Orlando approached him and grabbed his raven hair, yanking up. He grimaced, not from the pain, but from the thought of all the girls he probably did this to. The thought made him want to punch the garbage in front of him till he was unrecognizable. No. Can't do that. He saw Orlando's mouth moving and realized that he wasn't paying attention to whatever was being said to him. Well, not complete attention. Due to all his training, he's never not paying attention, more like feeling like he's underwater. Aware, but distorted. Still better than the average person, though.

"-in my office. So, tell me. What the fuck did you think you were doing, kid?" Orlando spat, slightly unnerved by the turquoise eyes watching his every move. Kid? He's not that young. Then again, he's heard people call the golden child kid and Dick's older than him.

"Just wondering how a motherfucker like you decorates. I'm looking to redo my living room and I thought, 'You know what? I really want to do for the disgusting waste of space look. I'm sure that'll tie the place together.' So, any thoughts?" He smirked at how red Orlando's face got from anger. Not his fault it's so easy to insult him. Orlando let go of his hair roughly before bringing his fist back and punched him in the side of the face. He rotated his jaw, but other than the initial sting, everything was fine. Either this guy was holding back or he's just weak. Let's go with weak.

"Think you're some tough guy, eh? Won't be so tough after I'm done with you. Boys," he called. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw one of the guards step forward, cracking his knuckles. He internally groaned. So, we've arrived at stage 3 of the plan. Step 1: get caught. Check. Step 2: piss off moron. Check. Step 3: get beat up by goons. He hated this part of the plan the most, but it had to happen, so he could get to the rest (Step 4 was let moron say his plan and whatever other information he needed as all other morons do. Step 5 was to break out of restraints, which was technically already done since the idiot used rope and he slipped out once he was conscious enough to do so, just had to make it look like he wasn't. Step 6 was easy. Kick everyone's asses). He'll admit, not the best plan he's made, but it'll get the job done. Then, he saw another guard held a rusty crowbar. Oh hell no. Memories already started playing in the back of his mind like a fucking home movie. Screw the plan, definitely not doing that again. New plan: skip Step 3 and 4 and go directly to 5.

He dropped from the ceiling and moved towards the unarmed guard first since he was closest. He sidestepped the punch, grabbed the wrist, and wrenched it behind the burly man, pushing him forward right as the other guard swung the crowbar. The guard he was using as a shield doubled over at the impact and no time was wasted moving on to the next opponent. He kicked the crowbar out of the guard's hand and caught it before it hit the floor.

He swung the crowbar into the side of the man's head with enough force to knock him out, but not kill him. Before the guard hit the floor, he threw the crowbar at the last guard, forcing him back. The guard tripped over his own feet and by the time he recovered, he felt an arm around his neck, pressing a pressure point in his neck that very few knew about. With all three guards down in less than a minute, he stood up, grabbing the crowbar. The best place for that was in his hands where he had control over it.

Orlando pulled out a gun and aimed it at him. "Not another step," his voice shaky. Aww, he's scared. Good. He should be. For the second time, he threw the crowbar, but this time he didn't aim for the asshole in front of him.

"Ha, you missed."

"Did I?" he smirked before quickly disarming Orlando, tossing the clip to one side of the room. If he kept it, he might be tempted to empty the bullets into the man. As much as he wanted to do that, it would only cause more problems than the scumbag's worth. Instead, he pushed Orlando to the newly broken window (thanks crowbar). With just one hand on the collar of Orlando's shirt keeping the man from falling, he began questioning.

"Where are the girls?"

"Listen, man, you don't have to do this."

"You gonna make me ask again?"

"Please man. You want money? I got money. It's in—" he let his hand slip slightly, extracting a scream from the piece of filth. "Okay okay. They're in the basement, just please don't kill me!" Orlando's eyes widened at the growing smirk on the man's face.

"Oh, Carlos. I'm not gonna kill you." He paused at the sigh of relief that came from the other man before continuing, "I'm simply gonna break several of your bones and if we're lucky, put you in a coma." He let go and Orlando shrieked as the concrete came closer and closer.

He headed down the stairs and quickly found the basement door. No lock and no guards. He thought it odd that Orlando brought him to the place he kept the girls. Maybe it was a trap. Unlikely, Orlando wasn't smart enough for that. He opened the door and had to take a step back from the sight. All of them were dead. Some necks were broken, others choked. There were even a couple of girls with stab wounds, eyes glazed over as they stared back at him. Well, this explains the no locks or guards.

He felt unbridled anger build up in his chest and he wanted nothing more to slam the son of a bitch's skull into the ground repeatably. Screw Bruce and his rules. Men like Orlando deserve to die very slowly and painfully. A small voice of reason in the back of his head told him to calm down, breathe, and that justice is more important than vengeance. He let out a breath of air before moving forward, checking for survivors just in case he missed something. Unfortunately, no. He placed a call to the GCPD and headed out.

* * *

He's been sitting on the edge of his safehouse's roof for a couple of hours before his phone interrupted his thoughts. He ignored it and continued replaying the events of the night in his head. Immediately after leaving that basement, he shed the hoodie and went back to his nightly rounds in an attempt to get the sight of those women out of his brain. It didn't work. All that happened was criminals got hit a little harder than necessary. The phone rang again and this time he actually picked up. He groaned before taking off his red helmet when he saw the Caller ID, immediately regretting his decision.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"Wow, nice to see you too, Jaybird." A cheery voice responded, too cheery if you ask Jason.

"First of all, Dickhead, technically we can't see each other—"

"Really, you're gonna go down that road. Okay, Tim."

"Do not compare me to that caffeine machine."

"Nice rhyme Dr. Seuss."

"That wasn't even… you know what, never mind. Second of all, is there a reason to why you're calling? Besides, of course, referring me to other people."

A chuckle was heard on the other line before "I can't call to just see how my little bro's doing?"

"Oh, I see. You don't want anything, he does. Well, whatever it is, the answer's no."

"How in the world could you have possibly known that?!"

"Didn't. Had a hunch, which you just confirmed." He couldn't help the smile as he heard Dick groaned.

"Dammit. Any woo, meet me in about 10 minutes. You know where. And before you say anything, this is non-negotiable." Jason sighed. He knew if he didn't meet Dick then Dick would come to him, making the unwanted interaction inevitable, but hey, he could at least try to get out of it first.

"Dickie, I really don't—" A crunching sound behind him made Jason stop talking. Turning around, he saw a pale creature holding a glowing weapon, pointing it directly at Jason. Oh right, he forgot that there was an alien invasion happening. When he first heard about it, he immediately dismissed it due to the fact he was very well aware that the group of goody-two-shoes would take care of it. But, they weren't here at the moment. And this thing was. He stood up slowly and reached for his own gun… which wasn't there. Shit. He didn't take them with to deal with Orlando and he didn't grab them after either out of fear of accidentally losing control out of anger. Hell, he didn't have anything besides a knife hidden in his boot and a couple of shuriken in his jacket. Well, this will go great.

"Jason? Jason? You there?" The alien's head tilted to the side at the sound coming from his phone and made a noise that honestly reminded Jason of the alien from the movie Alien.

"Dick, I'm gonna have to take a raincheck. Bit preoccupied," he whispered.

"Is everything alright? What's going—" Jason ended the call, cutting Dick off. The phone rang again as Dick tried to reconnect, prompting the alien to screech and shoot the weapon. Tossing the phone, Jason rolled to the side, barely missing the beam of light that shot out at him. Before he could do anything else, the alien dropped the weapon, went on all fours, and ran towards him.

"HOLY SHIT!" Jason yelled and grabbed his knife just in time as the alien slammed him to the ground. He used one arm to keep the snarling mouth away from his face (which, unfortunately, he only had the domino mask on after taking off the helmet to talk with Dick) and the other to slam the knife aggressively into the creature's abdomen. It froze, and Jason pushed the alien off him while pulling out the knife, backing away to the other side of the roof. He waited for it to come at him again, but the alien stayed where it was, unmoving. Well, he thought, that was anticlimactic. Spoke too soon. A force behind him knocked him to the ground and he found himself pinned underneath another alien. The knife was knocked from his hand, but that didn't mean he was going down without a fight. He punched the side of its face, but nothing happened. The creature's jaw unhinged like a snake and moved closer to his own face. Seriously, what was it with aliens and trying to eat his face? Jason used his feet to kick the alien away, allowing him a small window of opportunity. He pushed himself upwards and managed a few steps, throwing the ninja stars to try and slow the thing down, but to no avail. In fact, the alien threw one back and it nicked his arm, but nothing too serious. All it did was provide the creature enough time to move closer to Jason. He was running out of time. There was one thing he thought of, but it was a long shot. It probably wouldn't work at all. The alien most likely wouldn't count as pure evil nor does it have magic. However, since he didn't really have a choice, he went for it.

Jason closed his eyes and focused on the weapons he earned during his time with the All-Caste. He felt the soul-powered blades start to form (would you look at that, guess it is pure evil) just as a small blast of who-knows-what hit the alien. He instantly opened his eyes to watch the alien turn away from him, head facing the sky while shrieking. Whatever hit it allowed gave him a window of opportunity that he wasn't going to pass up. He quickly moved away to the other side of the roof to where his helmet was, picking up his knife along the way.

Jason watched as the alien snarled before vanishing. Wait. Did he see that right? No, he definitely did. One second the alien was there, saliva dripping from its jaws, next it was gone. What. The. Actual. Fuck. Oh, that would explain things.

That being the hovering being in the sky whose eyes faded from bright red to normal, regular eyes. His red cape billowed in the wind as he slowly made his way down to the roof dramatically. Jason tipped his head back and groaned, "You have got to be kidding me."

Superman walked towards the young man, who sat on the ledge and watched his every moment closely. The Kryptonian noticed and put his hands out to show he wasn't a threat. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm here to help."

Jason couldn't hold back the snort that arose from Clark's words, causing the new alien to frown slightly. He opened his mouth to respond when three more figures joined them.

"Hood! Are you alright? What happened? Oh my god, your arm! Does it hurt? Are you okay?" Jason rolled his eyes before turning to face his predecessor. "Wing, I'm fine. You can stop acting like the mother hen that you are." He had to admit he was glad that Dick used his alias since he didn't know if Bruce told the other two in front of him his real name. He hoped not, otherwise, there's gonna be some problems. Speaking of, Bruce stood in between Superman and Wonder Woman, eyes inspecting the wayward young man for injuries while also trying to appear unconcerned. He looked like he wanted to say something but chose to remain silent. That was perfectly fine with Jason. He turned his attention to the other founders of the Justice League.

"So, what the hell brings you guys to Gotham?" He tilted his head as he waited for a response. Diana and Clark glanced towards each other, unsure on how to proceed. They both opened their mouth simultaneously, but it was Bruce who spoke up. Looks like he was wrong on his previous assessment.

"We need to talk," he broke the silence. Jason couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"No? Really?" Jason's voice dripped with sarcasm as he feigned a gasp, "That's too bad because I just gonna bet Dickie here the exact opposite. But I guess it's true, the Justice League is full of surprises." He blinked innocently as he watched the rests' reactions. Clark's eyes widened at his words like he wasn't expecting Jason's attitude. Honestly, did he have any idea who he was? Diana pretended to be annoyed, but there was slight amusement in her eyes. Bruce had a disappointing scowl on his faces. Then again, when doesn't he? Dick simply shook his head with a smile on his face. In order to hide his humor, Dick turned away and pulled out a bandage roll from seemingly nowhere. How he managed to store anything in his pocketless Nightwing leotard blew Jason's mind. Dick attempted to wrap Jason's arm, but he got pushed away.

"Anyways," Diana continued where Bruce left off, "we came to propose the possibility of a partnership to fight off these aliens." Wow. Right to the point. He was expecting them to dance around the subject for a bit, but this works. Jason raised an eyebrow and turned to Dick, ready to hear how this was all some joke. But all he got was a small smile.

"I'm sorry, what? Let me see if I understood you," Jason spoke slowly, still trying to wrap his brain around Diana's words, "you guys want me to help you fight aliens? The Red Hood? Not only that, but it took three of you to ask. God, this sounds like the start of a bad joke."

"Actually, four. Don't forget me, ya know, the guy standing next to you." As if to make a point, Dick poked his cut, causing Jason to wince slightly. Dick made a face that said See? You should've let me wrap it. Jason shook his head, "You're not helping your case."

"So, will you help?" Clark asked, bringing the conversation back towards them.

"Hang on, I'm still trying to figure out what the hell is happening here? Don't you have an endless supply of superhero wannabes who can help you with this? Why me?"

"We're bringing in anyone who can help, that includes you," Diana responded. "And the sooner we're done here, the sooner we can figure out a way to stop these aliens." Jason scoffed in disbelief.

"Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me that you have no idea how to prevent this invasion. Exactly what the hell have you guys been doing for the last couple weeks?"

"We've stopped attacks around the world, however, those are only temporary solutions. We figured once we get everyone together, we can better evaluate how to deal with the situation," Clark reasoned, keeping his tone calm. Jason rolled his eyes again. Now he had bad plans, but this was a bad plan.

"How the fuck are you going to 'deal with the situation?' You are the fucking Man of Steel and you can't even beat them." He promptly ignored Dick's comment on watching his language before continuing, "So, best of luck, but hell no. I'm not helping you. You have no plan and personally, I don't feel like going on a suicide mission at the moment." The League members (well not Bruce, who remained at emotionless as ever) once again exchanged worried looks with each other. They were not expecting him to say no. Jason wasn't about to sit here and argue with them, though. He was tired and wanted to shower. As he was about to jump down the fire escape with helmet in hand, Dick's voice stopped him.

"Hey, Hood. Quick little question for ya." Jason turned to see Dick pointing to the fallen alien on the roof and he could see the raised eyebrows behind the domino mask. "How did you kill that alien with just a knife?" Everyone watched him, waiting for his answer, but truth be told, he didn't have one.

"Dickie, I don't have a fucking clue. I just kinda stabbed him and he went down. Didn't think much of it at the time, bit too focused on trying not to die." That was a lie. He was curious about how that happened. After all, when you spend years training to be the perfect little sidekick, turning off those detective skills, even for a second, is a hard task to accomplish.

"Well, this proves you should work with us. If you took this one down easily, we could figure out how to apply that to the rest of the aliens and save the planet!" Dick's grin grew with every word.

"You're forgetting the simple fact that I don't want to. Got it, Dickiebird?" Jason turned again to jump down, but of course, he couldn't get away that easily.

"Do we need to get Alfred involved?" Dick asked while trying to hide his smile. Jason shook his head in disbelief, chuckling, "Are you serious?"

"Completely." Well, that changed things. As much as he hated to admit it, Jason knew that if Alfred told him to help, he would. He loved the man to death but honestly was a bit scared of him. Everyone was, even Bruce. He stayed silent until Dick pulled out his phone with a smirk. Shit.

"Fine," he groaned, throwing his hands up in defeat, "I'll go with to hear out this bullshit plan of yours. But I'm not promising anything. Just let me grab some shit first." He didn't wait for the nods of affirmation before climbing on top of the edge. He turned to Dick right as he was about to jump down.

"Just so you know, I didn't escape me that you brought up Alfred only because you ran out of ideas. Low blow Dickiebird."

He slipped through his window and quickly moved to the bedroom. Under the bed was a metal case filled with his weapons. He switched out his knife with a sharper one and grabbed three guns. Two for the hip holsters and one just in case. He would have done shoulder holsters, but he found those restrict movement a bit. Jason made sure he had extra clips, one filled with the glowing green rock that could definitely cause Superman so damage if it came down to it. A couple of other small knives and he was good. He slammed the case closed and kicked it back under the bed. He brushed nonexistent dust off his pants, then suddenly became aware of the other presence standing behind him in the doorway. Jason knew who it was without turning around.

"Thought you were being a bit quiet. I was hoping I got lucky and we wouldn't have to talk but looks like that won't be happening." When no response came, Jason turned around to face the Dark Knight. He leaned back against the bed and crossed his arms, eyeing the man in front of him. When Bruce saw he wasn't going to get any more from Jason, he sighed, preparing himself for what's to come.

"Jason, I didn't come to argue. I just want to talk." Bruce was concerned about how this conversation was going to go. They haven't spoken in months and Bruce had been worried about his wayward son. He had had no idea if he was alright or injured. Dick would occasionally relay information back to him, but that wasn't enough. From what he could tell, Jason was doing okay. When they first arrived on the roof, he did a mental check over him and aside from the scratch on his arm and what appeared to be a slight bruise on his left cheek from probably a punch. The detective in him wanted to ask how it happened since normally Jason wore a helmet to protect his face, but he held back. They had more important issues at the time. Jason simply shrugged, his voice low.

"Well, you don't always get want you want." He moved off the bed and pushed himself past Bruce, walking into the kitchen to grab a water bottle. He took the cap off as Bruce turned around but remained where he was.

"I get that you're still upset about what happened, but—"

"Upset?" Jason cut him off, "That's a nice way to put it." He took a sip of his water as he watched Bruce watching him. He's never been gladder for his domino mask. Bruce was able to tell a lot from a person's eyes and the mask stopped him from reading Jason like an open book. Of course, Jason doesn't know it, but out of the four Robins, Bruce has always had the hardest time figuring out Jason. So, while Jason felt content, Bruce was frustrated.

"But," Bruce continued, "we have to move past that in order to do this."

Jason scoffed and ran a hand through his hair. "Tell me, Bruce. Do you even know what this is? You don't have a plan. And even if you do," he said after seeing Bruce about to protest, "you gotta see things from my side. You fucked up. Not me, you. If the situation was reversed, you would have used that as leverage against me in a heartbeat." Bruce took a step forward which caused Jason to step back.

"Jay, that's not true"

"Bullshit!"

Bruce sighed and ran pinched the bridge of his nose. This wasn't going great, but it wasn't the worse interaction he's had with Jason. He went to say something, but Jason was already talking again. He had to give his boy credit, he's come a long way since returning as the Red Hood. He use to be yelling at Bruce, swearing every other word, but now? Now, Jason calmed down and kept his voice even. If Bruce was being honest, it was slightly unnerving.

"Look, I held up my end of the deal. I haven't killed anyone. In fact, the closest thing I've done to killing someone was push a guy out a two-story window a couple of hours ago—"

"Excuse me?" That was Batman's voice that growled back at him, not Bruce's. Still, it didn't deter Jason.

"Asshole's fine. Not the point. I upheld my end of the bargain. Now I'm aware that we'll have to work together for whatever the hell is going on, but other than that, I expect you to hold up your end." Jason closed his bottle and put it back in the fridge before grabbing his helmet and heading back out the window, leaving Bruce before he could respond.

Bruce sighed and turned to see Dick crouched right outside. His eldest had a concerned look plastered on his face that told Bruce more than what words would have. When he passed Dick on the way out, he paused to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Talk to him. I didn't get a chance to ask and I probably won't get one by the way that conversation went, but there's something bothering him. He'll talk to you." Dick gave a sharp nod and the two headed up to the roof together. Dick noticed it, too. When they were on the phone, Jason sounded distant, like he wasn't fully there. Then on the roof, he was the same way. He almost appeared to be zoning out, but at the same time, completely observant of everything that was occurring. He saw the tenseness in his younger brother's posture, and he had the feeling it wasn't from Superman or Wonder Woman, or hell, Bruce. And the fact that his mentor noticed it too told him that he wasn't imagining things. But, Jason is as stubborn as they come. He won't share what's bothering him easily. Dick left out a breath of air and shook his head. He loved his brother, he really did. But, whatever's gonna come is not going to be easy.


	3. The Meeting

_Tim dropped down to the rooftop, trying to wipe the smile off his face. After all, he had to show professionalism. He kept low to the ground until he came upon a window on the ceiling, providing an excellent view of the warehouse below._

" _Red Robin in position."_ _Tim dropped down to the rooftop, trying to wipe the smile off his face. After all, he had to show professionalism. He kept low to the ground until he came upon a window on the ceiling, providing an excellent view of the warehouse below._

" _Red Robin in position."_

" _Well, it's about damn time. What the hell took so long, Burger Boy?" Tim couldn't help but shake his head at his nickname. If there was one thing he could count on his brothers for was their ability to come up with rather interesting monikers. But before he could respond to Jason, his younger brother (and he used that term very loosely with this one) was on the coms._

" _The moron doesn't think. In fact, the idiot is living proof that you don't need a brain to live," Damian taunted. And, of course, Tim took the bait._

" _You know, just 'cause you may look like a human, that doesn't mean you are one."_

" _If you're what passes for a human, then I'm really scared for the future of humanity."_

" _Well, us humans need oxygen, so you should probably stop talking cause you're wasting it."_

" _No, that would be you wasting oxygen. After all, you're not even supposed to be here."_

" _What's that supposed to mean?"_

" _Well, the only reason you're here is because your parents had defective protection."_

" _That's funny coming from a test-tube baby."_

" _ENOUGH!" a gruff voice yelled over the coms at a volume that caused Tim to wince. He heard chuckling that could have only come from Jason and a groan that was the telltale sign of a fed-up Dick. He might have gone a little far with the 'test-tube' baby part. Not that he felt bad, oh god no. It was the fact that Bruce was on the lines and Tim wasn't being careful enough to not accidentally insult him along with Damian._

" _If the two of you are done acting like children," Batman growled, "we have a mission to complete." His voice left no room for arguments._

" _Everyone ready?" Nightwing received various forms of affirmation to his question. Tim looked down into the open window next to him and saw his target. All he was waiting on was the signal._

" _Alrighty, just hold tight a little bit longer," Jason mumbled over the coms. He's their eye in the sky on this particular mission and had a view of everything from his vantage point where he was positioned with a sniper rifle. Tim couldn't believe Bruce allowed the trigger-happy assassin to use a gun, but then again, they weren't lethal bullets. Right?_

" _Okeydokey, on my count. In three…" Jason's voice was the only noise that carried over the coms. Everyone remained silent in anticipation. "Two…" Tim prepared to drop down on the unsuspecting criminal at any moment now. "One…" His eyes traced the man's every movement._

" _Now!"_

* * *

"Tim. Tim!" Said crime-fighter jerked, spilling his coffee on himself. He hissed at the burning sensation on his chest, grabbing at the napkins that seemingly appeared out of thin air. Tim looked up at Conner, who, while trying to appear sympathetic, could barely keep the smile from his face.

"Thanks," Tim grumbled as he continued to dab at the coffee stain on his white shirt. He winced at the thought of Alfred's face when looking at the article of clothing.

"You good?" his friend mused. With Tim's short nod, Conner continued, "So, whatcha thinkin 'bout?"

"How much trouble I'm gonna be in when Alfred sees this," Tim sighed. He could hear the words now. _It astounds me, Master Tim, how such a skilled individual such as yourself manages to run around on rooftops for hours on end with poise and, dare I say, grace. Yet, the moment you attempt to consume such a disgusting beverage, you make a mess._ Conner's voice brought him back to the conversation.

"What I mean is, what were you thinking about before…that," Conner wiggled his finger, pointing at Tim's shirt, "So, what caused you to go zombie-mode on me?"

Tim's eyebrows raised at the term. "Zombie-mode?"

"Well, I called your name like a million times and waved my hand in front of you. But nothing! You were like a zombie. Anyways, you're avoiding the question."

Tim rubbed a hand over his face. There was no reason to lie to him, but at the same time, Tim didn't feel like sharing. It would only lead to more questions. "Nothing," he mumbled, hoping it would be left alone.

"Yeah right," Conner scoffed, "you don't go into zombie-mode over nothing." Tim rolled his eyes before standing up to throw off the dirtied napkins. He moved to leave to the small kitchen he was drinking his coffee before it decorated his shirt, but a strong hand caught his arm, stopping Tim in his tracks. He looked back at Conner's piercing blue eyes as the Kryptonian clone studied the third Robin. The pair remained in a sort of staring contest, neither one wanting to relent to the other. Unfortunately, Tim didn't seem to carry that unyielding stubbornness gene that seemed to come with R-marked costume, because the moment Conner tilted his head in that puppy-esche way, Tim broke.

"Fine! If you must know, I was thinking about a mission I was on not too long ago." It wasn't technically a lie. Almost a year isn't necessarily a long time. So, he was fine as long as he wasn't asked-

"What mission?" Crap. He's been on hundreds of missions, he could just pick one at random and be done. But he couldn't bring himself to openly lie, especially not to one of his closest friends. Tim is many things, but a liar isn't one of them. He's seen the consequences of lying to people who are important to you too many times (mostly from Bruce who seems to believe lying "protects" Tim and his crazy, messed-up family) to know it never ends well. Even if Tim wanted to lie, which he doesn't, he's an awful liar. Truly terrible. Besides, Conner would see right through him anyway. It doesn't help that Conner would be able to hear his heartbeat to know for a fact if Tim told the truth.

His friend cleared his throat, reminding Tim of the heart of his dilemma. Well, might as well get it over with.

"Well… it was a long time ago… and by long, I mean about a year ago, so I guess not that long… and you see… well" Conner rolled his eyes at Tim's stammering. Ask about science or computers, the kid couldn't stop talking. Ask about himself, Tim closed up like a clam. "So w-what happened… now what I trying to say…"

"Tim, take a moment to collect yourself there," Conner giggled, slightly amused. Tim took a deep breath before continuing.

"IwasthinkingaboutthelasttimeIsawtheRedHood." Tim watched Conner blink a few times as he processed what he heard.

Conner's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "That's what's got you blabbering like a fool? The Red Hood?" It took all of Tim's willpower not to openly wince at Conner's belligerent tone when he spoke the name of his brother's alias. It was filled with contempt and disgust, no different from him pretty much every other person said it. As far as anyone not a part of their little "bat-clan" knew, the Red Hood was an untrustworthy menace who went around shooting anything and everything with no sense of integrity. Just another run of the mill criminal. But unlike them, Tim actually knew the man under the hood. Sure, Jason's made mistakes, granted more than enough for one lifetime (or would it be two?), but he's been doing better. There weren't as many confrontations that began and ended with "fuck you." In fact, for a while, he seemed to be opening up slightly more.

Trust is something that has to be earned with him. Lord knows Jason has problems with trust, then again with all things considered, who wouldn't if they were in his shoes. However, if you got his trust, you got his loyalty, and you know he's got your back. That is until you break that trust. Then all progress is lost and you having to start all over, only this time, it's a lot harder to regain it.

As for integrity, while Tim might not agree with all of Jason's morals, there's no doubt they're there. Jason lives by his own set of laws and doesn't break them.

The League likes to believe he has no sense of control which makes him dangerous. In reality, Tim knows that the opposite is true. Jason is so dangerous _because_ of his control. He is aware of every decision he makes, good or bad.

To know his friend agrees with the League on a matter they truly know nothing about breaks his heart. What makes it worse is that he can't properly defend his brother because that would give away too much information. He meets Conner's eyes and wished he could tell him all that he ponders about. But alas…

"Well, Con, it's been a while since I've last seen him and now, we'll be working with him on this. So, yeah, naturally I've been reflecting on my past run-ins with the guy," Tim retorted.

Conner simply shrugged in response, blissfully unaware of the offensive he's caused towards the smaller teen. "Okay, just don't let it weigh too much on your mind. After all, we got a world to save!" His smile was infectious, and Tim chuckled at Conner's enthusiasm. The Kryptonian clapped Tim on the shoulder as he wished his pal farewell and left the room, walking off to where the meeting was about to begin.

Tim made a fresh cup of coffee and left to go change. On his way to his temporary room, he heard two voices. Two familiar voices.

He wasted no time running up to the one in the brown leather jacket and wrapping his arms around the torso, taking in the smoky scent,

"As much as I missed you too kiddo, I'm telling you right now: if you spill that coffee on me, there will be hell to pay." Tim immediately released his older brother, careful not to spill the dark liquid. His eldest brother smiled as Tim set the drink on the ground.

"Looks like he already managed to do that all by himself," Dick laughed, pointing at the large stain on Tim's shirt. Jason shook his head in disbelief, trying to hide the amusement on his face. Surprised he could actually _see_ Jason's face, Tim searched for the red helmet and found it safely nested under Jason's arm. He took a moment to study his brother's face. The domino mask hid his eyes, but even if he wasn't wearing it, his hair would've down the job just fine. The black stands hung in front of his eyes and he looked like he needed to shave, but other than that, Jason looked good.

"So, you're actually back!" Tim remarked, "Didn't think you'd come."

"Well, an Alfred threat goes a long way," Dick spoke. Tim looked at Jason, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm only here to listen. Not promising anything, so don't get your hopes up."

"You're an asshole, you know." Both Dick's and Jason's eyes raised at Tim's choice of words.

"Wow, Timbers, you wound me." Jason put his hands over his heart and tipped his back in mock pain. "Wanna tell me what exactly I did to deserve such vulgar language?" Jason smirked, fully aware of the irony of calling Tim out for swearing.

"You left."

All amusement died with those two words. Dick took a step back, giving the two some room. Jason sighed, speaking softly, "Tim, I had to."

"No. No, you didn't." Tim's accusing tone came out a lot stronger than he meant it to.

"Tim…"

"You left for almost a year, without any contact."

"Tim…" Jason's voice grew sterner.

"What if you died? Huh? We would've had no idea!"

"Tim."

"You didn't even say goodbye! All because of some stupid argument between you and Bruce! Let me guess, you're still mad at him, aren't you? Well, the world is ending, so grow up and—"

"Tim!" Jason snapped. Dick bit his lip, watching the two brothers, ready to step in at any moment. Jason took a breath and explained, "Tim, I left because I had to get away from Gotham for a bit. I needed to cool my head."

"But it's been months," Tim whined.

"I found a case down in South America that took me all over the continent. Drug and sex trafficking. It took me longer than I expected."

"You still could've called. Don't forget, you didn't just leave Gotham. You left us. You left me." Silence passed between them, almost suffocating until it became too much to bear.

"I know and I'm sorry." To Tim's surprise, Jason sounded actually apologetic. He received a small smile before Jason ruffled his hair.

"Go get ready. Meetings starting soon." Tim nodded. He reached down to grab his coffee but somehow managed to kick it with his foot, spilling it everywhere. Jason and Dick both chuckled at their younger brother's misfortune. He's lucky the floor isn't carpet. He ran back to the kitchen for napkins and quickly cleaned up. Tim checked his watch and realized he had barely any time to get ready. With a quick goodbye, he jogged off.

* * *

"Actually, I disagree."

"Shocker. Batman disagrees with something." The entire room watched the two superheroes in anticipation. Tim felt like he was at a wrestling arena. In one corner, you got the Batman, Gotham's Dark Knight. Silent, but deadly. And in the other corner, you got Green Lantern, a sarcastic pilot who always has to have the last word.

Up until this point, Superman gave an analysis of the aliens, so everyone was on the same page. Tim noticed how the majority of the younger heroes simply took in the information while also trying to display a sense of professionalism to give off the idea they belonged there. The thing is, Tim knows that some of them are the exact opposite of professional, so it was weird to see people like Wally West standing still with a face of total seriousness. It just didn't fit. He also noticed that only half of their focus was on the presentation. The other half was on the wild card in the room.

Jason leaned nonchalantly against a wall with his arms crossed next to Roy and Dick. It wasn't lost on Tim how Jason was perfectly positioned to see everyone and thing in the room. Not only that, but he was close to an exit and made sure there was as much distance in between him and Bruce as possible based on where the latter sat at the table. Huh. Their little talk probably didn't do too well then. Tim himself stood next to Conner, on the opposite side of the room.

There genuinely wasn't much to discuss about the aliens, simply because they weren't aware of much. Clark described how some aliens were easy to take down while others proved to be quite the challenge. He discussed how the aliens that he personally has faced were just like him: strong, fast, able to fly, the whole nine yards. Zatanna shared that the aliens she's encountered used magic and Flash described how he was barely able to outrun the ones he's fought. Tim could see the gears turning in both Jason's and Bruce's heads (less so Jason's due to the helmet, but you get the point) from his position. And the moment everything clicked for Bruce, he spoke. Well, he was about to, except Green Lantern went first.

"So, we have a race of aliens with powers that counteract ours. Great," he groaned.

"Actually, I disagree." The whole room turned their attention to Bruce. Hal just snorted at the words.

"Shocker. Batman disagrees with something." It wasn't uncommon for the two to butt heads and this is usually how the arguments begin. "So, one mighty one," Lantern drawled, voice laced with sarcasm, "what exactly do you disagree with?"

"Your assessment that we are dealing with a race of aliens that can fight back effectively."

"How can you disagree?! Those are the facts! Are you, the person who literally relies on facts for everything, saying that facts are wrong?" Lantern scoffed in disbelief while everyone else looked to Batman for answers.

"Not at all. I'm saying what _you_ believe the facts to be is incorrect."

"Huh?"

"You said 'race.' I am not entirely sure we are dealing with a race. It's possible only a select few of the aliens have abilities to combat our own. If you looked beyond the facts presented, it would be easy to notice how the aliens are being sent to fight one at a time and each one is more difficult to battle than the last."

"You mean that we're being tested to see what the best strategy is for taking over the world?" Wonder Woman interjected. Batman gave a sharp nod.

"That is my theory, yes." When he noticed Hal roll his eyes after he said theory, Bruce added, "A very plausible theory supported by facts."

"It's kinda like a video game." The members seated at the round table turned their chairs to face the young voice. Although Tim couldn't see the confusion on Jason's face, it was visible in his body language as he looked at Arsenal.

"What?!" Shazam queried.

"It's like a video game. Every time you beat a level, you move on to the next one, only this time it's harder. Each level you pass, the difficulty increases," Roy explained.

"What about the boss?" Nightwing asked.

"Well, I'm assuming we haven't met the boss yet. We haven't completed all the levels, collected all the coins, done the mini-games," Roy mused, "But that's definitely where we save the princess." All the older members had a look of pure confusion on their faces (except Batman, who was as stoic as ever) and some of the younger members shook their heads in disbelief at such immaturity while others were amused by the analogy. Martian Manhunter cleared his throat.

"Excuse me? Did you say, 'save the princess'?"

"Oh, in this case, the princess is the world," Dick stated calmly, not offering any more information as though that explained enough. Green Lantern grew restless.

"Ok look. Enough of this crap about video games and 'princess saving,' we need an actual plan," he snapped. "I say I just fly up to their ship and take them out." Diana shook her head.

"No Lantern. We do this as a team. Besides, I don't think—" Hal cut her off before she could continue reasoning with him.

"I'm just saying I can easily take them down myself! There's no need for all these unnecessary people when I can do this! We know where their ship is! I can just destroy it then bim bam boom Bob's your uncle and we all go home!" Lantern took deep breaths as he waited for Wonder Woman's response. He didn't have to wait long for one, except it didn't come from the Amazon.

"Then why haven't you?"

All focus went back towards Roy's spot on the wall, just slightly to the left. It was a new voice, one many have never heard before, yet Tim was all too familiar with. All eyes were on the man in the brown leather jacket and a red helmet which hid all facial features, something that Tim knew bothered his mentor from time to time since he couldn't pick up on any facial cues.

Bruce shook his head slightly towards Jason, a signal to back off and not antagonize anyone, especially the Green Lantern. And just like with almost all of his orders, Jason completely ignored him.

"Pardon?" Hal sneered, taking a threatening step forward. Tim almost snorted at the motion. If Hal thinks he can intimidate Jason, he's got another thing coming.

"You claim you can take down these aliens all by yourself. So, why haven't you?" Jason repeated. Unbeknownst to anyone who didn't know Jason (which was pretty much the entire room) and therefore wasn't used to detecting it, there was a hint of amusement in his voice. Granted the filter in the helmet made picking up on such tones nearly impossible, but it was there. Jason enjoyed agitating people in order to learn more about them. People tend to let down walls and bring out their true selves when they get mad and reveal information, he wants to get out of them. Jason also loves learning where one's breaking point was and once he did figure it out, he would constantly toe the line. This was not going to end well. Tim glanced towards Bruce and saw he reached the same conclusion. He refocused his attention to the confrontation as Lantern spoke again.

"Because my teammates disagree with me for some unknown reason," pointed look toward Diana, "and, you see, when you're on a team, you respect others' input, even though it might be wrong," another look towards the female warrior, "But what would you know about being on a team? Last I checked, you didn't do the 'team thing,'" he spat.

"Some unknown reason, huh?" Jason tilted his upwards as if thinking. "Well, let's see here. Perhaps the reason has something to do with the fact they probably already tried a direct attack and it didn't work. I'm guessing since it wasn't you personally who tried, you foolishly believe that you'll have better luck than a practically invincible Kryptonian." Tim raised his eyebrows in shock. How did Jason know Superman already attempted to take down the ship hovering above the planet's atmosphere? "I'm sure if you actually respected your teammates' input as you claimed, then you'd realize your plan is idiotic and will more than likely get you killed. Not that that would be completely awful, but still...

"However, for argument's sake, let's say you did attack their ship, then what? Hmm? 'Cause I'm assuming you've already fought a couple of these things. I'm also assuming whatever strategy you had for fighting these things didn't work since the whole point of this meeting is to figure out how to fight the aliens. And, as for the whole 'team thing,' you are demonstrating exactly why it's better to work alone." Out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw both Dick and Bruce tense, the former way more noticeable than the latter. Jason's in extremely dangerous waters right now and better tread lightly. Then again, this is Jason. If he has a point he wants to make, you better believe he'll make it.

"See, you claim to respect your teammates, but in reality, you only have respect for you and giant ego." Tim wasn't so sure Jason was still talking about Hal.

"Hood," Batman growled in warning.

"So, yeah I don't do the 'team thing' because of assholes like you thinking you can fucking control whoever you want and screw anyone else who disagrees." Yep. Definitely not talking about Hal.

Many of the younger heroes near Tim put their hands over their mouths in shock at the swearing. Some gasped at the profanity while others simply shook their heads. But as always, Bruce was quick to reprimand his wayward son.

"Hood! Watch. Your. Language." His voice held power and authority, leaving no room for argument. But Jason being Jason…

"Apologies," the word dripped with sarcasm. Jason turned his head ever so slightly so that he looked Bruce in the eyes as he continued to speak. "You can fucking control _whomever_ you want."

Batman stood up so fast, knocking over his chair in the process. The room was silent. All eyes were on the Dark Knight, someone only a complete and utter fool would purposely piss off, and the Red Hood, the complete and utter fool who did just that. Tim shook his head. What are you doing, Jay?

"Why the hell is this guy even here?!" Lantern demanded.

"Because 'this guy' already figured out what the problem is with the aliens," Jason countered.

"Hood," Batman spoke through gritted teeth, "I suggest you make your point and make it fast." Tim heard it in his voice and so did Jason, Dick, and Damian. It was the same reprimanding time they all were given the moment they messed up BIG TIME. It meant there's going to be harsh consequences and soon.

"Well Bats, you said it yourself. They're testing us. However, you've missed something." There was a collective gasp around the room. Batman doesn't miss anything. It just didn't happen. But here the Red Hood was, claiming the opposite. Bruce gestured for Jason to continue, obviously curious to figure out what he supposedly had missed.

"Let me ask ya something. What is happening right _before_ the attacks, hmm?" Jason tilted his head while everyone could see Bruce out the pieces together. And when he did, he sighed.

"Crap."

"Why 'crap?' What's wrong?" Green Arrow asked.

"The aliens aren't trying to figure out how to take down the world. They're trying to figure out how to take down us," Batman grumbled, a bit upset how he missed something that big. However, the others were still confused, Tim included.

"You got _that_ from what the Red Hood said?!" Lantern's mouth was agape. "How the hell…"

"Shall I explain, or do you want the honors?" Jason asked caustically. Bruce sat back down and gave the 'go-ahead' wave.

"Alrighty. The aliens are coming to you, not the other way around. They're not threatening people, just simply attacking you guys," Jason proceeded to explain, "But not all of you. Only the ones with some sort of powers. That tells us the aliens have a way to determine which of you guys are enhanced. What we learn from that is the aliens view those special individuals as threats. They're not going to even attempt to attack Earth while you guys are here, so they're getting rid of you first." He observed the room, watching as the League members took in this information. Tim knew it made sense but still astounded by the fact that Jason, of all people, figured it out first.

"How come an alien attacked you then?" Clark questioned.

"Probably because we were there," Diana answered for Jason.

"There's still a couple of things that are still bothering me, though," Jason stated.

"And what's that?" Batman asked his wayward Robin.

"Well, if the aliens are able to track powers, then why haven't they shown up here?" Many started to question what he meant, so he elaborated. "They're looking for people with powers and they have the ability to find them. And here you all are in one spot, basically wrapped up like a Christmas gift. So, why haven't they showed up here?"

Not even five seconds passed when the ceiling broke and three aliens dropped down on the table, heads moving unnaturally as they viewed the room. No one dared to speak. Well, almost no one.

"Okay then, never mind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, a flashback to the conflict between Bruce and Jason AND a cliffhanger! I'm thinking of doing those flashbacks at the beginning of the next couple of chapters. Thoughts? Anywho, I've never seen Young Justice and I pretty much only read Red Hood comics. Therefore, I don't know how I did with Conner. All the information I had on him was what Wiki said and even that wasn't helpful. So, I'm super sorry if I messed him up! Let me know what you thought?


	4. The Battle and Research

_Jason watched all his teammates take down their respective target through his scope. He honestly couldn't believe his ears when Bruce agreed to the idea of having Jason be the lookout WITH a gun. Just no killing. Easy, he hasn't committed the act for a while now with no problem. Tonight should be no different._

_He watched as both Tim and Damian performed the same move to attack their opponents; they landed on the target's back and with a few punches to the face, were off, moving on to the next one. It was truly amazing how similar, yet how different the two were._

_After checking to make sure neither one of his younger brothers would be caught unaware, he shifted his scope to look at Nightwing. Immediately noticing a man sneaking up behind the currently-doing-way-too-many-backflips acrobat, Jason aimed and shot the guy in the shoulder. He would be lying if he didn't take pleasure in seeing Dick jump slightly. Said man turned to where Jason was positioned and gave a fake salute. The anti-hero rolled his eyes._

_Even though Bruce told him to only watch his brothers and that he wouldn't need Jason's vigilance (because god forbid he set aside even a sliver of his massive ego), Jason still checked up on the older man. Not because he cared, because he didn't, but rather to make sure there would be no wild cards that would screw up the whole plan. Yep, no other reason._

_Batman had taken down several criminals, which lay either unconscious or injured on the ground around him, and proceeded to move on to the real reason they were there._

_The others were also finishing up so Jason took that as his cue to switch positions. He swung the gun to his back and backed up on the roof. Once he considered himself far enough away, Jason started sprinting towards the edge and jumped to the next rooftop, rolling to absorb the impact. He did this two more times until he found the best position to be._

_Setting the sniper rifle on the ledge, he searched through the scope for the guy they were looking for. Jason couldn't recall his name, mostly due to the fact that he and Dick were tossing a ball back and forth while Bruce explained the case._

_In the center of a room stood a pacing man holding a 9mm with another man tied to a chair in front of him. Well, that looks like a bad guy._

_Jason adjusted his weapon to account for wind and distance before putting a finger up to the comm in his ear. He wasn't wearing his helmet tonight because he tended to have better accuracy when he wasn't relying on a program to line up his shot for him. While it didn't make sense, Jason learned long ago to trust his own eyes to make difficult shots._

_"Alrighty, if we look to the left, particularly the east side, we will notice a gigantic asshole in his natural habitat. Their diet usually consists of eating shit. Their aggressive behavior is a signal to natural predators to stay the fuck away, but for educational purposes, we will- holy shit Dickhead, your other left. Jeez," he grumbled after witnessing all but one of his co-vigilantes heading in the right direction._

_Batman burst through the double doors that brought him face to face with their target. Instantaneously, about half a dozen men came out of hiding, all holding guns pointed at Bruce._

_"Oh, did I forget to mention that the assholes hunt in packs?"_

_Jason didn't need to see Bruce's face to know there was a glare. However, he did see a Batarang slip into the man's palm. Oh, Bruce, you wound me._

_Jason took down all the men except for the asshole and his victim in less than five seconds. All of them dropped to the ground and the asshole swallowed nervously. That's right, bitch, be scared. Tim and Damian entered unnoticed, watching silently from the landing above. Dick finally found his way and came to stand beside Bruce._

_"Greg Lawrence, let him go." The deep voice carried across the room, causing the asshole to pale at the sound of his name. Oh yeah, Greg Lawrence, a loan shark who did not like when people didn't pay him back. The poor bastard in front of him apparently borrowed 5k and was supposed to pay Lawrence back a couple of weeks ago. Damian mentioned how the guy was a moron for borrowing the money in the first place, and therefore, deserved what was happening. However, as a kid who grew up on the streets, Jason knows the banks don't give a single fuck about the poor Gothamites who needed money, so sometimes loan sharks are the only option._

_Greg was cornered, yet desperate. Always a dangerous combo. In a moment of panic, he grabbed the man in the chair, using him as a human shield whilst holding a gun to his head._

_"St-stand back!" he stuttered._

_"Do you have a shot?" Tim's voice was quiet, but Jason could still pick up on the slight nervousness. Jason could see that he was pretty much their only option since the small balcony the two youngest were watching from didn't give them access to get behind Greg and the two oldest couldn't advance unless they were willing to risk killing the citizen. However, Jason had prepared for this. He perfectly positioned himself so that he could shoot through a window located behind the pair. There was only one problem._

_"He's moving way too much. If I shoot now, I might hit the other dude. However, eventually, he is going to stand still long enough for me to get 'em. Just stall for a bit."_

_"No." Wait, what? Did he hear Bruce right?_

_"I'm sorry, I think there's something wrong with my earpiece. It almost sounded like you said no."_

_"I did. Stand down, don't take the shot. We can handle this." Jason closed his eyes and counted to ten his head. He could make out Dick talking with Greg, trying to diffuse the situation while Jason and Bruce "talked."_

_"You really willing to put the life of an innocent on the line? Be smart about this, B. You guys can't do anything, but I can. I can do this, I just need the opening is all," he responded. Dammit Bruce, just trust me on this one._

_"I said no and that's final." Bruce's voice was stern, silently ordering Jason to drop it. Well, it's a good thing Jason never listens._

_Dick finally got Greg to stand still, giving Jason the opening he needed. But it's a bad thing Bruce knows Jason never listens._

_Bruce saw ex-protege line up the shot. However, he told Jason no, so he pulled out a smoke grenade, letting it roll across the floor before completely voiding two people of vision. Greg and, more importantly, Jason._

_The four heroes in the room made their way to the criminal, but none had actually made it there when a gunshot followed by a scream echoed across the room, turning Bruce's veins to ice._

_"What the FUCK did you just do?!_

* * *

Have you ever been in a situation where everything just feels wrong? Silence so loud, it's deafening? Tension so incredibly thick that you can almost see it materialize before your eyes, not unlike heat waves in the Sahara Desert during the middle of July? Feel as if all the air was being sucked out of the room and you are slowly suffocating? All your senses dampened as if you were underwater? The blood froze in your veins? Paralyzed in place, wanting nothing more than to leave, all the while afraid to move in even the slightest?

Every single being in the Hall of Justice could relate. Everyone except that three that brought about this sensation. The shock had yet to wear off at the sight of the creatures who surveyed the room in stiff movements, similar to an animatronic. The itch to grab a weapon was strong but the fear of accidentally provoking the aliens was stronger. They all wanted to do something, anything! However, the fact remained that no one knew how to subdue the creatures.

Even those who were overconfident in their abilities stayed were they where. After all, they weren't the only ones in the room. So, they waited. Waited to see what the aliens would do.

It turned out they did not have to wait long.

The largest of the three opened its jaw and let out a horrid screech, throwing everything into chaos. It was that same alien that held the only weapon of the three and aimed at pillars and other parts of the ceiling, bringing the whole room crashing down.

Jason grabbed Roy's collar and threw them both out of the way of a piece of a falling pillar. After recovering, the pair took a moment to observe the scene playing out in front of them.

One of the aliens had launched itself towards Superman, although much to everyone's surprise, Clark was easily able to bat the creature aside. He exchanged a confused look with Batman, who stood next to him. It slid across the floor and stopped at the feet of Shazam. He didn't have a chance to react as the alien quickly recovered and with a whip of its tail, Billy felt himself thrown against the wall with such force that he couldn't recall hitting the floor.

The alien then had jumped with its claws outstretched towards Wonder Woman. She raised her sword at the ready and sprung forward to meet the creature. The sword hit the flesh, yet did not cut it. Diana quickly flipped the weapon and after ducking under a swiping claw, she hit the creature with the hilt of her sword. It stumbled forward a bit, but other than that, it didn't appear affected. She desperately needed a plan, and luckily Jason had one. Sure there was the possibility it wouldn't work and it wasn't even well thought out, but eh, what are you gonna do?

Jason pulled his sidearm and quickly changed out the clip. Although it wasn't meant for the aliens, it wouldn't hurt to try.

He pulled the trigger, sending the glowing green bullet into Wonder Woman's bulletproof cuffs, which ricocheted into the alien's neck. It stammered a few steps before collapsing on the ground in front of her. Once the shock wore off, she sought out the source of the bullet, giving a curt nod of gratitude after meeting Hood's gaze.

There was no time to react, because the next thing he knew, a large piece of ceiling landed next to him. Jason rolled out of the way and quickly recovered, jumping to his feet.

This was too chaotic and they desperately needed a plan. Nearby laid a broken piece of the ceiling which Jason scurried to right as another wild shot from the alien weapon hit the wall close to where he stood mere seconds ago.

Feeling safe for the moment, he closed his eyes and tuned everything else out as he started to mentally go through everything he knew the aliens they were fighting against. A high pitched screech broke his concentration. Jason moved to adjust volume settings on his helmet to better filter the ear-piercing sound when he froze, the small idea already blooming into something more. Even though no one could see it, his eyes lit up and the corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk.

Hood palmed a piece of concrete that fit perfectly in his hand. Turning to survey the mess that surrounded, he quickly spotted his target. He pulled his arm back and threw the rock across the room, stopping right in front of Black Canary.

If he had the time, he would have chuckled at the confusion on her face.

She made a guess as to where the rock originated and was met with the Red Hood giving her a small wave. She waved back hesitantly, unsure of what was happening. He gestured to the largest of the aliens then held up three fingers, hoping she'd understand. Small relief came when she nodded sharply.

Canary hurried to a corner where she found a lone chair, taking cover behind it. It didn't offer much in protection but hid her fairly well. She still had a view of Hood, who remained where he in his position, take out twin guns and somehow turn them into one larger gun that she couldn't name. She had to admit she was impressed.

Hood replaced the current ammo with something much more powerful (courtesy of Roy Harper). Jason set the newly formed weapon in a small duvet in the large stone before adjusting it so it laid nicely on his shoulder. The problem was this was a long-range weapon and his target wasn't that far away. However, the pistols were not gonna cut it, so he didn't have much in the choice department.

He aimed the weapon at the largest of the aliens and waited. It didn't take long for an opportunity to appear so he caught Black Canary's watchful eye just as the creature turned in her direction. It didn't see her yet, but it would in a few moments. They had only one shot at this so it would be best not to waste it.

With one hand, he placed his index finger just outside the trigger guard. With the other, he held up three fingers. When he put down his ring finger, he saw Dinah take a deep breath, mentally preparing herself.

When he put down his middle finger, she pushed the chair away and walked out with an air of confidence into the open to where the alien could easily see her. The creature screeched, and the other smaller alien moved away from Martian Manhunter to deal with the newly presented threat. Jason honestly forgot about that one since he had his hands full with the other.

This alien never got close to her because the moment Hood dropped his last finger, she gave her famous Canary Cry. Several people covered their ears at the high-pitched sound that threatened to split their head open. Even the aliens stopped their attacks and screamed in agony.

Seizing the opportunity, Jason pulled the trigger, sending the small explosive straight into the unprotected back of the alpha alien.

The wave of energy that emanated from the creature flung everyone back from the sheer force of the bomb, even Jason, who took cover behind the slab of the ceiling.

When recovered from the blast, the first thing Jason noticed was that he couldn't see. The helmet's display flickered a bit before eventually succumbing to the damage it received. After he moved to rest on his knees and jerk the helmet of his head, he frowned as he traced the scratches embedded in the once smooth surface. Well, at least it did its job since he didn't have a concussion, which by the looks of it, was more than what he could say about some of the others caught in the aftermath of the bomb.

His eyes danced across the room, making sure no one seriously injured from his spur-of-the-moment plan. He couldn't help the relief that came from confirming that. However, in his scan, he noticed something odd about his environment.

There were no aliens.

Everyone looked around in surprise. Just seconds ago, they were fighting for their lives. Now the threat is gone just like that. Even the one he killed. Vanished without a trace.

A black covered hand came into his view and he accepted the offer. He allowed Black Canary to help him to his feet and she studied him for a moment. If Jason had to guess, she probably wanted to make sure he wasn't hurt. He faintly recalled Roy saying that she often reminded him of a mother lion protecting her cubs, didn't matter who you were or what you've done. He can now say for certain that Roy (for once) was right.

"Well, other than your arm, I'd say you're fine," she nodded approvingly with a slight smile. Jason's eyes widened as he searched each of his arms for injuries. He didn't remember getting hurt, by when his eye caught the small cut on his left arm, blood seeping through his gray shirt, the sudden throb of pain kicking in as his adrenaline left. Huh.

The wound he received from his first run-in with aliens reopened, although he can't recall when exactly that occurred.

Dinah chuckled softly at his confusion before extending her hand once more. His confusion only grew at the gesture, causing her to sigh and grab his hand in her own. Oh. He gently shook her hand and she smiled at that.

"I must admit, Mr. Hood, this was one crazy plan you had there. Should I expect more equally as insane?" she smiled, accepting the mischievous look on his face as an adequate answer before she left to check on Ollie, who happened to be standing next to a dazed-looking Roy.

She understood why Roy likes the young man next to her so much. He may be dangerous, but there was something about him that made you look past that danger to see the charm.

Dinah lightly touched the anti-hero's arm, signaling him to follow. The two made their way over to where Arsenal popped into a chair with his head in his hands and Green Arrow fiddled with some of his signature weapons.

Jason took the seat across from Roy, snapping his fingers in front of his friend. Said man glanced up for a second then returned to his previous position.

Concerned, Jason fished for a penlight out of his leather jacket and lifted Roy's chin when he finally found one. He shone the light in each of his eyes, lingering until the pupil adjusted to the harsh light. His left eye was a bit too slow to react for Jason's liking, but not enough that made Jason think concussion. However, he was not quite content with his friend's condition so, he began to ask Roy questions to test his cognitive skills. When Jason finally felt assured that Roy would be fine, he interlaced his fingers under his chin, allowing his mind to replay the events that just occurred.

"Is everyone alright?"Aquaman asked. Everyone slowly gathered themselves and gave several forms of affirmation. While everyone had their own bumps and bruises, there were no serious injuries that caused concern. Bruce gave each of his sons a once-over to make sure they were all relatively okay.

Spotting Dick first, he noticed nothing wrong at first glance. But since this is Dick, the man could be internally bleeding, yet still claim he was fine. Bruce internally sighed. Out of all his children, Dick is the worst when it comes to injuries. He hides them so others won't worry, yet if someone else was injured, he would pester them till he was able to assess the wound himself. Case in point, at that moment, his eldest held his youngest's chin in his hand as he gently turned Damian's head to check for injuries. The latter scowled but didn't pull away from Dick's fussing. He appeared unharmed, so Bruce allowed himself to shift his gaze to his second youngest.

Tim leaned against the nearest wall with an arm draped across his chest as he caught his breath. His Kryptonian ally put a hand on Tim's shoulder, but his son shrugged it off with a lopsided smile. Bruce noticed how Superboy's eyes flickered slightly. After spending so much time around Clark, he's learned that that was the tell-tale sign of the x-ray vision. Bruce felt his heart squeeze when he saw the frown on Superboy's face. Conner reached for Tim's wrist and at the slightest touch, Tim recoiled with a wince, drawing his arm closer to himself. Bruce wasted no time coming to his aid.

"How are you doing? What happened to your wrist?" Bruce asked, trying not to let the worry flood his voice completely. Tim simply chuckled before responding.

"Calm down, B. Just landed on it funny, that's all. I'm okay, I promise." He forced a smile, but the pain in his eyes was clear as day. Bruce turned to Conner, asking the young hero to take Tim down to the infirmary. The clone put his arm around Tim's shoulders, gently leading him away and ignoring the protests coming from the younger man.

Content that Tim would receive medical attention for his injury, Bruce scanned the room for his last son. Jason sat in one of the chairs across from Roy. Next to the pair, stood Dinah and Oliver, the former checking the latter for injuries before kissing him.

Without his helmet on, Bruce was able to better study Jason. His eyes were unfocused as he stared at nothing in particular. His elbows rested on his knees, one of which was bouncing slightly. Physically, Jason appeared fine. But that was only physically. He had a similar look as he did when they were on the rooftop in Gotham, the only difference being this time Jason seemed more pensive than utterly destroyed. As much as he wanted to ask, Bruce knew there was no way he would get an honest answer.

Movement caught his eye, switching his attention to Wonder Woman. She approached Dinah, whispering in her ear, then receiving a nod in affirmation. Jason had his back to the Amazonian warrior and looked so lost in thought that Bruce would have sworn he didn't even notice her presence if he didn't know any better.

But he did know better. Jason has the uncanny ability to be aware of his surroundings. Bruce has never witnessed anybody successfully sneak up on the young man. Not even the famous Dark Knight could claim he's achieved such a feat. Bruce will admit, there are definitely times when he found himself annoyed at Jason's hyper-awareness as it wouldn't give him the advantage of surprise. If he had to guess, Bruce would say this sixth sense of Jason's was just another product of his childhood in the streets of Gotham. Unlike with the rest of the Robins, Bruce barely had to go over observation skills with Jason, and what he did cover was reminding the young boy not to forsake his awareness due to his hotheadedness.

Bruce's only warning to prepare himself was Dinah's two fingers reaching for her mouth. The high pitched whistle stopped any and all conversations as many covered their ears. When the sound came to an end, several glared at her while simultaneously attempting to see if they would require hearing aids. One of those people was Jason, who glanced up at Dinah with a feigned look of betrayal. She mouthed sorry and patted his arm. She didn't notice how he immediately moved away from the physical contact, but Bruce did. He didn't have too long to mull over it, because Diana began speaking.

"Now that I have your attention," Wonder Woman said, "I think that we should call it a day. If you are injured, go to the infirmary. If not, go shower, eat, and rest. We'll talk later about what just happened. For now, just take of yourselves."

Bruce looked back to Jason as the archer excitedly started to speak about the temporary lab they gave him to mess around with gadgets. Personally, the idea of Roy having such a place concerned him, and based on the face Jason made, it concerned him too. Nonetheless, the pair left, along with almost all of the heroes in the room. The only ones who remained were Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Green Lantern, and of course Batman himself. It didn't take long for the conversation to initiate.

"You gotta control the Red Hood. Dude was way outta line," Hal hissed at Bruce.

"Aww, Lanty's upset that the big bad hood wurt his feewings," Oliver mocked in a childish tone. Dinah laughed softly while looking heavenward with a small shake of her head. In response, Hal's ring glowed as he scowled at the emerald archer. Diana was quick to step in.

"Boys, we're supposed to be on a team," she scolded before a smirk appeared on her face. "Honestly though, Hal, do you believe you did nothing to deserve his attitude?"

"I, at least, offered a solution!" Hal snapped at her. "The rest of you did nothing!" The others continued to laugh as Hal's temper got the best of him. Bruce cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the group.

"Rest assured, Hal, I will be discussing his behavior," the pilot gave a curt 'thank you' to the man in black, but what was said next made him do a double-take. "However, I cannot deny that there was some truth to his words." Hal's eyes widened slightly before narrowing into slights.

"You're kidding me, right?!" he yelled. "What the hell did the asshole say that was true?" Bruce's face darkened at the term used to define Jason. While Lantern had good reason to use it, it didn't make it any more acceptable.

"Well," Barry started, "he was right that you shouldn't attempt to take the aliens down on your own. Honestly, Hal, thought you were smarter than that." Said man just huffed in disbelief that his teammates were taking a criminal's side over his.

"And his observations kinda made sense. Seems like it was a good idea to bring him on board, huh?" At that, Hal scoffed, but Barry continued. "I'm gonna look into what he said a little more." That was the only warning they got before the scarlet speedster lived up to his name and ran out of the room within milliseconds. Hal grumbled under his breath before he himself left.

"Imma go shower and get this alien goop off me. Get some rest you two. It's been a rather long day," Oliver called as he made his way to the door, Dinah's arm hooked through his as they made quiet conversation.

Bruce left out a breath of air and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Hey, you alright?" Diana asked kindly as she searched Bruce's face. Bruce gave her a reassuring nod.

"I just have a lot to think about is all," he explained. She watched him for a moment before sighing.

"Don't we all." The two of them went to the door, Diana paused, lightly touching Bruce's arm to stop him as well. "You know, he saved my life today. And according to Dinah, he came up with the plan to put an end to the attack. I'd never thought I'd say this, but maybe a little crazy is exactly what we need to win this thing. I'll see you later, Batman." With that, she left.

After about half a minute of walking, he ran into Nightwing. They greeted each other, then fell into a comfortable silence. But Dick was never one for long periods of no noise.

"I talked to him, ya know." There was no need to specify who this conversation would be about. Bruce raised an eyebrow, signaling his eldest to continue.

"Something definitely happened, but he wouldn't tell me what exactly was bothering him." Dick sounded lamentable about being unable to get his brother to speak with him.

"I thought you said you talked with him?" Bruce questioned.

"I did… he just didn't talk back," pouted Dick. Bruce sighed, knowing exactly what Dick's inner turmoil was about. He's had several one-sided conversations with Jason that went nowhere ever since he found the youngster in that alley. Even then, Jason was adamant about not sharing whatever distress him at the time. He knew it stemmed from Jason's less than stellar childhood, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little infuriated that all his efforts to show he cared were shot down.

"He did talk to Tim, though." That caused Bruce's train of thought to come to a halt.

"Really?"

"Yeah, although not about that. Instead, he decided to lie to Tim about what he's been doing" Dicks disapproval could not have been clearer. Like all of the 'bat kids,' he loathed when he was lied to and attempted to avoid lying whenever he could. To say he was caught off guard by Jason's decision was an understatement.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Tim chewed Jason out for leaving Gotham for so long and not staying in contact." Dick watched as Bruce's eyebrows furrowed in confusion just as he predicted.

"But Jason was in Gotham for the most part."

"I know."

"And he talked with you. It was seldom, but he still kept in touch with you every now and then."

"I know."

"Then why…" Bruce's mind was racing. There was no reason for Jason to lie, so why did he?

"Remember Bruce, Tim wasn't there during that argument." How could he forget? That night played in his brain almost every night, thinking about all his mistakes and how much he wished he could redo it all. "After Tim left, I asked Jason about it and he said the less Tim knew, the better, so he didn't correct Tim's accusations." They walked in silence for a bit as Bruce processed the new information. He guessed Jason's decision made sense. After all, he didn't tell Tim or Damian anything either, but he also didn't openly lie to them.

* * *

Jason has probably watched the surveillance video thirty times now. He missed something. He knows he did, but what? Next to the laptop that Roy lent him laid a small black notebook filled with observations Jason jotted down. He devised and disregarded several theories about the aliens that attacked them before finally developing one that wasn't riddled with holes like swiss cheese. However, that didn't mean everything added up. There were still a few discrepancies with his idea that needed solving. Hence the rewatching of the cameras that captured the aliens' invasion of the base. He searched for anything and everything that could assist them in the inevitable battle.

Jason ran a hand through his hair in exhaustion before hitting the replay button. He felt ready to drop at any moment. Taking a sip of the horrid coffee, (honestly, how the hell did Tim drink this crap?) he focused all his attention on the screen in front of him. Well, he tried to, anyway. It was impossible to truly concentrate on anything when there is an eccentric archer/inventor in the same room as him. The man didn't know the meaning of quiet.

Currently, Roy was mumbling nonsense to himself as he tried to create some anti-alien bomb. Roy's words, not Jason's. A couple of tools fell from the workbench and based on the sudden increase of volume and profanity, one landed on his foot. Jason couldn't help but snort in amusement which led to him being on the receiving end of his friend's extended middle finger.

The video ended without any new information, so Jason switched to a different angle. He's already been through every second of recording, but he hasn't visited this particular clip in a while so maybe he would learn something new. After that clip, he closed the laptop and rubbed his eyes. He needed a break. Jason lay his head on his crossed arms and closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness. That darkness quickly turned to the image of the several slaughtered women in that basement that he failed to save. His eyes shot open, blinking away the grotesque sight.

"Hey, you good?" Roy called from across the room after seeing Jason's discomfort.

"Yeah." No. "Just a little tired." Roy hummed in response before going back to his work. The archer worked with the anti-hero long enough to know not to push him if he doesn't want to talk about something. Despite that, he couldn't help the disappointment from appearing on his face. He also couldn't help Jason from noticing it.

There was a sigh, followed by, "So, what's new with you?" Jason's happy to talk with Roy, just not about himself. "How's Lian doing?"

His words had the desired effect as Roy grinned ear to ear. "Oh my god, dude. You know what she asked me the other day? She asked for a cat. Can you believe it?"

Jason chuckled, the irony not lost on him. "Are you gonna get her one?"

"Are you insane?! Of course not," he shook his head in disbelief at the mere idea.

"Does she know that?"

"Well, I told her now's not the best time for one."

"I think it would be a good idea actually."

"What? In what world would that be a good idea?" He set down his wrench to regard his friend. Jason took a sip of his coffee in an attempt to hide his amusement. But as he set the drink down and saw the irritated look on Roy's face, he almost lost it. He allowed himself a deep breath before answering.

"Think about it, Roy. Cats are independent so you really don't have to do much besides feed them and clean their crap. Lian will take care of the whole petting and loving them part." Now it was Roy's turn to look amused. "What?" Jason asked defensively.

"Since when did you become a cat expert?"

"Have you met my little brother? The brat is basically a small-fry ninja version of Doctor Dolittle." Jason thought back to the time he stopped by the cave almost a year and a half ago to help Tim fix his motorcycle (he was ninety percent certain the caffeine addict purposely broke his ride just to get Jason to come over). When he went to grab a rag to clean up some spilled grease, he almost ran into a cow. A grass-eating, mooing, lazy cow. He couldn't tell if Damian was joking or not when he said he named it BatCow. Then he discovered not only did he have a cow, but a huge dog and a cat. He could not believe Alfred would allow the kid to have so many pets, especially a cow. To be honest, he would not be surprised if there were more critters in the manor. He hasn't been there for some time so he wouldn't know.

"Have you talked with Kori yet?" Roy muttered, not meeting Jason's eyes, instead looking at his current project as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Ahh, so this is where this conversation is heading.

"I have," he stated matter-of-factly, "you know, Dickie asked me that same thing. It appears neither him nor you have spoken to her. May I ask why not?"

Roy cleared his throat more times than what seemed necessary before finally lifting his head, "You may not."

Jason didn't press further. He heard the distress in a usually overconfident voice and left the matter alone. Roy didn't pry when Jason asked him to, so it was only fair to return the favor. Besides, it wasn't too difficult to guess the reasoning behind Roy's reluctance to share.

While the Tamaranean princess and the red archer ended their relationship on good terms, that didn't mean it wasn't any less awkward. The same went for the Romanian acrobat.

Their conversation ended there, neither one bothering to continue. The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable, but without any more distractions, Jason's mind began to wander towards the room of girls he failed. All those young women whose life was snuffed out like a candle all because he didn't get there in time. Orlando deserved so much worse. Jason felt tempted to find out exactly where the piece of filth ended up and beat the shit out of him until...

No. No, don't go there. Think about something, anything else.

Jason forced his mind to a different, less vengeful matter. He began to recall the events that happened before that meeting. Specifically when he had lied to Tim. Well, technically, he let the youngster come to his own conclusions and Jason simply chose not to correct him. That's not lying. Merely finding loopholes. He didn't lie about Spain, it did take longer than expected. Only by a couple of days, but still. And it's not like he was in Gotham the entire time. He frequently left to go to other countries and cities for cases. He also didn't lie about the 'whole not keeping in contact' thing. He did not communicate with Tim. About once every two months, he would receive a text from Dick asking how he's doing. Jason would give him a one or two-word answer to satisfy him, and that would be that. He couldn't give too much away because he knew Dick would relay any information to Bruce, just like the perfect golden child that he is. Jason did feel guilty about not telling Tim the truth though. However, it was for the better that Tim stayed in the dark. He didn't need to know what happened that night.

Before he got pulled into that memory, an explosion rocked the room.

It amazed Jason that his neck didn't snap at how quick he turned it towards the origin of the blast. Roy stood up from where he got thrown with a rueful look plastered across his soot-covered face. Behind Jason, he heard the whooshing sound of a speedster running into the room. He didn't turn to find out which one it was.

"My bad," Roy looked down in shame. Jason shook his head in disbelief as he gave his friend the what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you look. And Roy wondered why Jason chose to sit as far from him as possible. Roy brought a whole new meaning to the word 'unpredictable.'

The speedster sighed and vanished, probably to tell the others there was nothing to worry about.

"I think I should prolly move on to a different, less combustive project," Roy blushed while fiddling with his thumbs.

"Ya think?"

Well, that's one way to re-energize a person. Jason reopened his laptop with new vigor and pressed play on the current video. When that turned up nothing, he moved on and got the same result. He repeated the action several times until he came across something that caught his eye. Jason backed the video up ten seconds to confirm what he just saw.

"Holy shit," he whispered, jotting down his findings in whatever free space he could find.

"What?" Jason was proud to say he didn't startle at the voice that came from next to him. While he heard him enter, a greeting of some sorts would have been preferable over the shoulder-lurking technique. And Jason told him as such.

"Seriously?" he snapped. Bruce tilted his head in either confusion or concern, Jason didn't know, and frankly, he didn't care. "You know, most people announce their arrival with a 'hello' or 'hi, how are you?' They don't stand there like freaking ninjas."

Bruce had a ghost of a smile on his face. God, when was the last time he saw that? "We aren't most people." Ain't that the truth. "But fine. Hi, Jason. How are you?"

"Oh my god. He has a sense of humor. Who knew?" Jason mumbled as he turned back to the computer, already feeling the dread take a hold of his body.

"Joke all you want, but I do expect an answer. You were looking a bit out of sorts earlier. So, are you okay?"

"Peachy."

Bruce's eyes narrowed. "No, you're not. What's-"

"What do you want, Bruce?" Jason cut him off bitterly. Didn't he make it clear he wanted nothing to do with the elder man? Besides, for once it wasn't just his reluctance to be around the man that made him want Bruce to leave. Well yes, that played a huge part in it, but this time, he actually had work to do.

"I wanted to check up on you."

"Why?" he snapped. Jason wasn't wearing his domino mask, so there was nothing to hide his bright turquoise eyes narrowing in distrust. Bruce opened his mouth to reply but found he didn't have an answer Jason would find satisfactory. He thought it was obvious why he was worried about Jason. They were just in a battle against a couple of aliens that seemed to know all the heroes' weaknesses while they knew none of the aliens. And that was just in the past hour.

When he took to long to answer, Jason scoffed and responded to Bruce's previous statement. "As you can see I'm fine"

"Actually, that's not what I'm seeing."

"If there's no other reason for you to be here, then kindly get the fuck out." He set his mouth in a hard line, clearly irritated and fed up with the conversation even though it's barely begun.

Clearly not getting anything else from him, Bruce decided to change subjects. "What are you doing here?" his hand gesturing to the computer screen in front of them. Jason rolled his eyes, well aware that Bruce only asked in order to remain in the room. However, there were only two ways of making the Gotham hero leaving: give him an answer or physically throw him out. Since the conflict earlier took more of Jason's energy and strength out of him than he would care to admit, he couldn't really go with option two. He gave a small sigh of defeat, accepting the inevitable.

"I'm reviewing the fight, looking for any flaws or weak spots that could give us an advantage," he explained.

"And?"

"And basically I've come up with a shitload of nothing." Jason ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Bruce frowned at his word choice but didn't say anything about it. Instead, he addresses the other part of the sentence.

"I doubt that." Jason turned to look up at Bruce after hearing the dubious tone.

"You doubt that? And why is that, Oh Great One?" Bruce deepens his frown, obviously unappreciative of the sarcasm, but Jason lifted his head to meet his gaze, daring Bruce to challenge him. Since he wanted to avoid a fight as much as possible, Bruce sought to bring them back to the topic at hand.

"When I came in, it appeared you discovered something. Something that didn't seem to be, how did you put it, 'a shitload of nothing,'" Bruce repeated his son's crude diction. He raised an eyebrow in expectation.

Jason studied the older man for a moment, debating whether or not to share his newfound information. He'd end up sharing this knowledge sooner or later, plus Bruce was nothing but persistent. It annoyed the hell out of Jason, even when he was younger. Since they were being forced to cooperate, he would have to pick and choose his battles. And seeing how he already shot down the attempt to talk about his well being, he didn't have much of a choice. Jason tossed Bruce the notebook.

With a nod of gratitude, the Dark Knight flipped through Jason's notes. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking as he read each page, so Jason went back to the videos to pass the time. He no longer paid attention to the content. He had most of the evidence he needed, but Jason's watched the tapes so many times and hasn't found anything new. Besides, he pretty much has them committed to memory at this point. Still, it gave him something to do so he'd appear busy.

The short version of what his ex-mentor was reading was that the large alien with the gun is controlling the others. The other two were simply puppets. The tapes showed that the small aliens were only able to do any real damage to the heroes after the large one screeched. And special abilities arose depending on who the alien fought, but they couldn't switch those abilities without the alpha alien's say-so. Jason thinks it's some form of imitation that gives the aliens said powers in the first place.

Based on that information, Jason figured that if you take out the alpha first, then the other two can't do any real damage since they can't mirror any more powers. It went into further detail about how to take out the alphas, but remember: this was the short version.

"Holy crap. Batman, when did you get here?" came a bewildered voice from across the room. Roy had a puzzled look on his face and held earbuds in one hand, which explained why he didn't hear the two Gotham crime fighters talking. "You know, you should say hi when you enter a room. Less creepy that way."

Jason smirked, muttering a 'told you' under his breath, while Roy grew uneasy under the gaze of the Bat. The archer didn't last long before putting the earbuds back in and going back to his work, pretending the whole interaction never occurred. Bruce looked back to the item in his hands.

"Jason, this…" He didn't even know where to begin. Jason crossed his arms defensively, ready to argue with Bruce about whatever the problem was.

"You got all of this from the cameras?" Bruce received a short nod. "Huh. I must say, I wholeheartedly believe you just figured out a way to deal with these aliens. Well done."

"Is that praise I'm hearing?" he asked incredulously while leaning back in his chair to examine the elder. "Alright, who are you and what have you done with Bruce?"

"I'm not joking. This could very well work." Despite what he said, Jason still appeared suspicious, skeptical of Bruce's claims. "I guess I was right in being doubtful of your claim of finding nothing."

"And he's back," Jason snorted. He scrubbed a hand over his face, glancing back at the laptop. Bruce caught the motion and examined the young man before him. There were slight bags forming under his eyes and he blinked more frequently, each blink lasting a little longer than the last. He looked as if he hasn't seen a bed in weeks, which knowing Jason, is very well possible. As much as Bruce wanted to tell him to go get rest, he knew Jason would not respond well to anything that sounded remotely like an order. So, he'd have to do this carefully.

Jason noticed Bruce watching him out of the corner of his eye and he was very close to tell the man to fuck off when he spoke.

"You look tired." Jason rolled his eyes upward before turning to regard the older man. The look Bruce was a mixture of many things that made him pause. The most prominent was 'I didn't ask for your fucking opinion,' followed by a 'No shit, Sherlock' and 'Why the hell do you care?" He let out a breath before continuing, "Maybe you should try to get some sleep." Still, no words came from the younger of the two. Either he wanted to wait for Bruce to say everything he wanted to say or was truly that tired to the point he had no energy to argue. He tried a different approach. "You've seemed to hit a roadblock in the videos, so perhaps with some rest, you'd be able to see something that you missed before. You know, fresh eyes, and all."

After a moment of silence, Jason hummed, unable to find a problem in Bruce's logic.

"Fine." Bruce felt some relief lift off his shoulders. "Well, if you want to go through the tapes yourself and search for whatever your obsessive ass wants, be my guest. I'm done for now." Jason stood up from the chair and moved to toss out the cup of coffee. He was exhausted and while he could continue, that doesn't mean he should. He walked to Roy and tapped his shoulder. When the redhead peered up at him, Jason jerked his head towards the door, signaling they should both try and get some rest.

Meanwhile, Bruce gazed at the image paused on the screen. In that frozen instant, both the smaller aliens were after the most powerful of the heroes. His mind brought him back to the moments before the attack to something Superman pointed out. "Jason, wait," he called out.

Both of the ex-sidekicks met each other's eyes, carrying a silent conversation. After a moment of hesitation, Roy gave his friend a slight smile saying 'good luck' and left them. Jason leaned against the wall, waiting for whatever Bruce had to say.

"Just one more thing and you can go, I promise," he said.

'What?" Jason spat through gritted teeth. Bruce had seriously overestimated how much Jason wanted to be around him. He had tolerated his presence so far, but this was pushing Jason to his limits. Most importantly, much to his chagrin, Bruce had a point. He was fucking exhausted and wanted nothing other than to sleep. Usually, Jason detested sleep because of what waited in the depths of his mind, but at that moment, he'd rather deal with his demons than remain here with his former mentor.

Bruce raised his hands for a moment as a sign of peace. "I've been thinking about Clark's question from earlier." When Jason blinked at him in confusion, he elaborated, "He asked why the aliens attacked you on that rooftop."

"Okay?" Jason drawled, unsure of where this was going. "Didn't Diana say it was probably attracted by their presence?"

"Yeah, but the more I thought about it, the less sense it made. Both Clark and Diana were in the cave when Dick called you. And you were pretty much on the other side of Gotham. So, if it were after them, then it would have come to them. So, why did it go to you? Not only that, but you were able to kill that first alien with just a knife. None of the others have gone down that easily."

Jason shrugged. "Well, there is my theory that without the big one, the small ones are pretty much useless." Bruce hummed in uncertainty. And Jason knew why. The league faced a couple of those weak aliens with no alpha present and still had difficulty. So what was different about Jason. Unless…no it couldn't be that dumb. Well...

"Have any of you tried to kill them with a knife before?" he asked. Bruce's frown was all the answer he needed. "Well, there you go, then. Sometimes fists aren't enough. Sometimes you gotta get a little… messy." He couldn't deny the joy he felt as Bruce's frown deepened at his words. "As for the whole coming to me instead of the powered superbeings, it's possible they were going after them and saw me first. Probably thought I was an easy target."

Bruce shook his head in disagreement. "No, that's not it. If that were the case, then why wouldn't they go after random citizens, which are the easiest targets. They were specifically drawn to you. But why?" He studied his son for a second before asking, "Jason. Is there something you want to share with me? Anything at all that would explain this?"

Jason mulled over it. "Lazarus pit?"

"That's not it. If it were, then one, Damian would probably also have been targeted due to growing up in its proximity. Two, why wouldn't they have gone after an actual pit? No, I don't think that's it. Anything else?"

Well, the only other thing he could think of was… Shit. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly, but Bruce caught it. "Jason?"

"Nope. Nothing I can think of?" He shook his head a bit too much for Bruce's liking, so he raised an eyebrow in question.

"Whatever it is could give us more information on these creatures. So, Jason, I'm gonna ask again: What are you not telling me?"

"Sorry, but I got nothing," Jason responded, the lie rolling easily off his tongue. Bruce sighed. Jason didn't trust enough to tell him. Hell, he probably didn't trust him at all. "Is that all?"

Since he wouldn't get an answer tonight, Bruce had no reason to keep him there. He nodded but surprised to see Jason didn't leave right away. There was a pensive look on his face as if he wanted to say something.

"Everything okay, Jay?

"Yeah... yeah," his voice seemed hesitant, unsure of his own words. Bruce felt some hope that Jason would actually share what was bothering him, but that hope diminished when he saw the distrust in his son's eyes once again. "Just don't spend too much time on the tapes. You need to sleep too."

Bruce's eyebrows raised. That definitely wasn't what he expected. But Jason wasn't done, not if that smirk meant anything. "You look like shit."

"Goodnight, Jason."

Jason chuckled softly (wow, he must really be tired) before leaving Bruce by himself in the room.

Once again, he ran a hand through his hair before going to Jason's laptop to see if he can find anything new. Jason's theory was sound and provided a way to fight back. Bruce couldn't help but feel proud.

As for Jason, the moment he got to the temporary room he shared with Roy and Dick, he started thinking about what he just discovered. Once he figured out why he was targeted, his mind was racing a mile a minute. They could sense the All-Caste blades. Those fucking aliens knew he had them. That can't be good… unless it can. If they were able to trace them, that confirmed the part of his theory of the aliens having magic, which means the blades could be used against them. Of course, there was more to it than that, but now more pieces fell into place. However, the weapons were draining since they were powered off his soul, and if needed, his blood. Therefore, he would only use them if he had no other choice. He really hoped it wouldn't come down to that. Jason didn't particularly want others to know about the blades. The only people who knew were Roy and Kori. Bruce had his suspicions that he was hiding something, but he didn't know what. Jason would prefer it to stay that way.

He yawned and checked the time. 2:36 A.M. He lay his head back, allowing sleep to come quickly. Unfortunately, his demons weren't done with him just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it. Chapter 4. So… whatcha think? I know this was a long one, but if you're reading this then you made it through. YAY!  
> And how bout that PapaBats, ehh? A lot of writers make him devoid of any emotion, but I disagree with that. The dude's got feelings just doesn't like sharing them, that's all.  
> Anywoo, please let me know if you like it!!! Have a wonderful day!!!


	5. The Conflict

_When the smoke cleared, the victim was curled in a fetal position, groaning in pain. The criminal was zip-tied in front of Robin. Batman dropped in front of the victim, Walter Rowley, and assessed the damage. There was a bullet hole in his side and, based on the amount of blood and his knowledge of human anatomy, Batman would say the kidney was hit. Fortunately, due to the close range, the bullet went straight through Rowley._

_Batman called for Red Robin and instructed him to keep pressure on the wound. Behind him, Nightwing spoke to the authorities on his comm. Since this was a hostage situation, Batman had already accounted for tonight going wrong, so he made sure both the police force and medics were outside and at the ready if need be. And thank god he did._

_Soon, two paramedics and two cops, along with the Commissioner entered the warehouse. Rowley was wheeled out on a gurney while Lawrence had cuffs on his wrists. Gordon started to walk towards Batman and the rest of his companions (sans a certain gun-wielder), so Batman turned to the two youngest._

_"You two," he pointed at Red Robin and Robin, "deal with the Commissioner, then go home." He shot them a glare when they began to protest, killing any arguments they could have had. He aimed his grapple upwards and allowed the line to pull him towards what would turn out to be one of the worst moments he would ever have with his son._

_It took no time to find the rooftop where Red Hood had positioned himself. It wasn't difficult due to the fact that the younger man had been pacing like a pissed-off tiger after losing its meal._

_Batman stood silently, tracking every moment. He could practically see the anger radiating off of Red Hood. Jason has always been an unstable powder keg, even more so after his return, and now, Bruce felt like he just dosed the gunpowder in gasoline and took out a flare. He was in a dangerous position and he knew it. And so did Jason._

_"Give me one reason, Bruce. Just one fucking reasoning why I shouldn't kick your ass here and now on this godforsaken rooftop," Jason spat through gritted teeth._

_"Look, I know you're angry-" Bruce tried to placate the young man._

_"Angry? No, no, I'm not angry, because that would imply there is actually a word to describe exactly how fucking pissed off I am."_

_Bruce pushed his cowl off, running a gloved hand across his face. So, it was gonna be one of those nights. He knew on his way to the rooftop that this was not going to go well, but he still felt the disappointment pool in his chest._

_This was how things always went with Jason. There would be a period of peace that would inevitably lead to a massive falling out. And normally, Jason would be the one to slip up (although the younger man never saw it that way); however, tonight's different. Bruce couldn't shake the feeling that this time, he would be the one at fault here. That meant it was up to him to try and maintain this "peace" as long as he could, no matter how short-lived it would be end up being._

_Jason leaned against the roof's ledge, hands in his pockets to hide how much they were shaking. He wanted to beat the shit out of something, anything, and right now he had a target in front of him that was looking extremely punchable. Yet, despite the rage that fueled him, Jason kept his voice even and on the quieter side when he spoke._

_"So, tell me, B," he queried, "why the fuck didn't you let me take the shot?"_

_"As I said, we had it handled. You should have listened."_

_"You should have trusted me," Jason shot back with no hesitation. "I guess that's always been the crux of our problems, B. You still don't fucking trust me."_

_Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh. "If that were true, I never would have let you come on this mission," he reasoned, "nor would I let you use a gun."_

_"Nonono, I'm talking about how you don't trust me not to kill. Despite the fact that I haven't even come close to killing anyone in almost two years, you still think I'm going to turn back into that person." Bruce tried to interject, but Jason didn't give him the opportunity. "Not only do you not trust me, but you go out of your way to show it."_

_"What on earth are you talking about?" Bruce could feel his patience starting to slip._

_"I'm talking about the fact that you dropped a smoke bomb to stop me from taking the shot, WHICH," he raised his voice, "might I add, was aimed at his shoulder."_

_Jason pulled one of his hands out of his pocket to tap his chin as he feigned confusion, pushing off the ledge to pace a few lengths. "Oh, and how did that plan go?" He asked, coming to a stop and expertly ignoring the heated glare focused on him. Jason let more of his anger bleed into his voice as he turned on his former mentor. "Oh yeah, horribly. What a fan-fucking-tastic plan, by the way. You decided that you would prefer to risk the citizen getting hurt, or worse, rather than take the chance of me killing the criminal. And let me reiterate, I was aiming for the fucker's shoulder! The worst that could've happened would be he can't use his arm for a bit, BUT GOD FORBID YOU PUT A FUCKING OUNCE OF TRUST IN ME!" By the end, Jason was shouting, finding it increasingly more difficult to stifle his wrath. Then Bruce had the audacity to give him an 'are you done' look. Oh no, Brucey. Not even close._

_"You know something funny about that plan, Jay," Bruce mused, "I never would've even gone through with it had you listened to orders." Bruce heard a wince come from behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know it was Dick. The Romanian acrobat must have slipped onto the roof not too long ago. Part of him felt relieved to have his eldest there; Dick always tries to referee Bruce and Jason's arguments to prevent something catastrophic from occurring. But Bruce also felt sick to his stomach that they even need Dick to do that._

_In front of him, Jason laughed humorlessly, scrubbing a gloved hand across his mouth. "You know, I almost forgot that we're nothing but soldiers to you," Jason growled._

_"That's not what I meant."_

_"Oh, then please, Bruce," Jason jeered, spreading his arms, "by all means. Enlighten me."_

_Dick must have done something behind Bruce because Jason's heated gaze snapped past the Cape Crusader, before he seethed, "I swear to all that is holy, Dick, if you don't want me to kick the ever-living shit out of you right now, then keep your mouth shut."_

_In hindsight, Bruce should have taken this small distraction as a chance to calm down a bit, but he was on the end of his rope._

_"Fine, Jason. You wanna know why I don't trust you?" he fumed, feeling any patience he once held leave him like a leaf falls from a tree after a gust of wind._

_"Bruce…" a warning came from behind him. A warning he should have listened to._

_"No no, Dickie. Let the man speak." Jason crossed his arms and leaned back with a smirk on his face. "This should be good."_

_"You're too wild. You never have any plan, which makes you dangerous, because the moment shit hits the fan, you resort to unnecessary violence. And one day, you will kill again, I'm just waiting for that shoe to drop."_

_"Wait," Jason interrupted, "you can't hold me accountable for something I haven't done yet. That's not fair."_

_Bruce could hear another emotion hidden underneath the anger in Jason's words, but Bruce kept going. "No, what's not fair is how we all have to tread lightly whenever any of us are around you because the moment you get angry, something inside you snaps and there is no knowing what you might do. Why do you think I'm wary when you are out with your brothers?" Hurt flashed in his son's eyes, but Bruce ignored it. "You are nothing like the young boy I took in all those years ago. That kid had compassion and empathy. I spent so much energy teaching this misguided boy all that I could, and then some, all for it to be twisted and used against me. That is what's not fair, Jason. Something in you broke a long time ago and you've only made things worse by becoming this person who has no resemblance to that young boy I brought into my home." He ignored the 'screw you' to continue to make his point. "I had one rule: no killing. And what did you do? You went on a goddamn killing spree. You have absolutely no morals."_

_"No," Jason countered after reaching his 'bullshit limit,' "I don't have_ your _morals. There might not be a difference to you, you asshole, but that in no way means there isn't one." The young vigilante maintained a composed stance, but his eyes were a deep pool of emotions. And if Bruce to a second to register the distress he was causing, he would have backed off. Instead, he focused on one particular part of Jason's statement._

_"That's another thing; you have no respect." Jason met his eyes, rolling his shoulders back slightly. He knew exactly what Bruce was referring to and he was gonna stand by his words… or rather one word specifically._

_"I'm not wrong. You are an asshole."_

_"That's not the point."_

_"Ahh," Jason smiled, "so you admit I'm right. You are indeed an asshole."_

_"Jason! It doesn't matter whether you were right or wrong. You have to be respectful."_

_"Hell no. I'm not going to respect someone who doesn't deserve my respect."_

_Jason lifted his chin slightly, daring Bruce to argue with that. And he did._

_"Whether or not he deserves anything is beside the point. We have to work as a team, which means no more mouthing off to me anymore. Do you understand me?" His voice was assertive and unwavering. Jason's eyes narrowed as he nibbled his bottom lip._

_"I understand."_

_That threw Bruce for a loop. Definitely wasn't expecting that, but he maintained his guard. He's already learned things don't come easy with his wayward son._

_"But there's no way in hell that's happening."_

_"Dammit, Jason!" He shouted. "You want a reason to respect me? Fine. You should respect me because I have never ran around killing people on a whim just because I'm pissed off!" He should've stopped there. He really should have. Jason immediately returned to his tense position. Why the hell didn't he stop?_

_"You know, blame me all you want for your problems, Jason. But do not pretend for one second that you aren't one hundred percent responsible for your actions. I get that after what happened with Joker, you had the right to be angry." He saw Jason flinch, but he continued. "But you had several options to deal with that anger, many of which didn't involve becoming mass murder just to prove a point! We could have gotten you help-" Bruce got cut off by a sharp snort._

_"I seem to recall your idea of help consisted of locking me up in Arkham with the same son of a bitch who…" The young man trailed, unable to finish the sentence. "How'd that turn out? Hmm?"_

_For the first time since the argument started, Bruce took in his son's appearance. At the surface, Jason looked downright livid. However, now he saw past the anger. There was a pain in his eyes, both from the current argument and past memories. His hands trembled slightly, and he was biting his lower lip. Overall, Jason looked exhausted._

_Bruce sighed before running a hand through his hair. He could bring up how he only went that route because of Jason's initial decision to come back to Gotham guns blazing, but that would only make things worse. Well, worse than things already were. Damn, for a while there, they were doing okay. This time, he only had himself to blame for messing everything up._

_"Jason," he started placidly, "I apologize. This is most definitely not how I wanted this conversation to go. This isn't over, not by a long shot, however, this is neither the time nor place to have this talk." A little late for that, he thought. "We're both exhausted, so we're not exactly in the right state of mind at the moment. And as I said before, we have to work together. So, how about, for the time being, we put a hold on this conversation until after we get some rest. Then we can revisit this. Okay?"_

_Bruce kept quiet, watching as his second-oldest closed his eyes and take a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, they reminded Bruce of a sea right before a storm. The way the blues and greens mixed together perfectly mimicked the rising waves and thunderous clouds clashing in a fight for dominance._

_"With all due_ respect _, Bruce," Jason spat, "Go fuck yourself."_

_Bruce took a step forward, causing Jason to take a step back, lifting a hand to signal Bruce to stay the hell away. He felt his veins turn to ice and a knot forming in the back of his throat, making it hard to swallow. Bruce crossed so many lines tonight, and if the cold, reserved look in Jason's eyes were anything to go by, there was no recovering from that anytime soon, or at all._

_Jason opened his mouth to continue arguing, but he found absolutely no fight left in him, just an overwhelming desire to leave._

_"You're wrong, you know" his voice was quiet and calm. Bruce almost wished he would just start yelling and swearing and tear him a new one because he deserved it. He couldn't stand the lack of fire that he was witnessing._

_"We don't have to work as a team, because whatever this is," Jason waved his hand back and forth between the two of them, "is, in fact, over. I'm not kidding Bruce," he stated as the elder man started to object, "I'm not doing this anymore. I'll continue not killing criminals, but in return, you are going to stay the fuck away, okay?"_

_Bruce felt as if he blinked and his son was gone. Nowhere in sight. He turned to head home himself and stopped short. Dick sat on the edge of the roof, hands over his mouth and a small wet line marking his cheek. His eldest looked torn. Bruce felt the same. The urge to go after Jason was almost too strong to ignore, but he knew he would only make things worse._

_Dick looked as if he wanted to comfort his father figure, but found himself unable to do anything more except shake his head in disbelief._

_He sat next to Dick on the ledge, head in hands as he replayed the night's events._

_Bruce asked himself the question that Jason voiced earlier that night._

_What the fuck did he just do?_

* * *

"Why weren't you there?"

"Why didn't you save us?"

"What took so long?"

"How come you didn't save us?"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE US?!"

Jason sat up quickly, gasping for air with a knot in his stomach. Knowing what was to come, he twisted, almost falling onto the floor in his effort to leave the bed. Fortunately, there was a bathroom connected to the small room and he wasted no time finding the porcelain bowl.

He dropped to his knees as he emptied the contents of his stomach, which wasn't much. When vigilante finished dry-heaving, he reached up and flushed the toilet, wishing he could just watch his problems spin away over and over again until they finally got sucked away, never to be seen again. But sadly, he had way too many problems, so they would end up getting clogged anyways.

Jason pushed himself against the parallel wall, tipping his head back and closing his eyes as he tried to regain control over his haggard breathing. His dreams were plagued with the faces and voices of those women. He wished he had actually heard their screams because that would have meant they would've been alive and able to be saved. Instead, Jason found their silence louder than any scream. He never heard their pleas and prayers bounce off the cold walls or their last breath be one of relief that their torment was over. All because he was too late.

As much as he wanted to torture Orlando for what he did, Jason wanted to torture himself more for what he didn't do. And his subconscious definitely felt up for the challenge. He might as well wish for a good night's sleep goodbye. Not like that happened anyway, but now it certainly wasn't going to get any better.

Knuckles rapping on the doorframe pulled him away from his thoughts. Jason opened one eye just enough to see who stood at the threshold of the bathroom. When he saw his idiotic brother, he groaned and let his head drop.

"Well, don't you look like a bucket of sunshine!" Dick laughed. Of all the people to be here, Dick is the last person Jason wants to see...well, second to last.

"What do you want, Dickie?" Jason asked shortly. He wasn't in the mood for Mr. Isn't-the-World Just-Dandy right now. Dick shuffled past Jason to put the cover on the toilet down to so he had a place to sit. The pair studied each other in silence; one concerned and the other daring him to judge. It's been an on-going battle between the two. Dick just wants to care for his Little Wing and his Little Wing could not care less about what Dick wants.

"So, what's going on, Jay?" Dick casually asked, "And don't say-"

"Nothing."

"-nothing." His older brother let out a sigh. The younger of the two received the 'you're impossible' look. He shrugged indifferently in return.

It was Dick who relented first. "Fine," he threw his hands skyward as he groaned, "Keep your secrets, Mr. Hood." Jason smiled, shaking his head at his brother's folly. The two sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes.

"So, we're meeting in the break room, since our conference room has been destroyed. You don't need to wear all your gear or anything, none of us are. Too much effort for just a meeting." Dick stood up, offering a hand to Jason, who waved it away. He wasn't fully confident that he wouldn't throw up again the moment he left solid ground.

"Even B's foregoing the whole 'uniform' shtick? That can't be right." Jason mused. He couldn't picture Bruce wearing casual clothes in front of all those heroes. And apparently, he wouldn't have to since Dick grimaced.

"Weeellll," he drawled, "he's not. Nor is Shazam, Lantern, Superman, or Martian Manhunter. Everyone else though."

Jason hummed in thought before finally deciding to get up. Back in the room, he smacked the redhead to wake him up. He knew from experience that Roy was a deep sleeper and a shoulder shake wouldn't be enough. Still, Roy just groaned and mumbled something incomprehensible.

Behind him, Dick threw Jason a clean black shirt. Lots of people thought Jason was similar to Bruce when it comes to size and weight, but in truth, he only had slightly more muscle and build than Dick.

When he pulled his grey shirt off, he could see Dick scrutinizing him, looking for any new injuries. And oh boy, did Jason have some nasty wounds. The hardened glance he sent to his brother was enough to convey that Dick isn't to say anything concerning his injuries.

Hitting Roy one more time, he and his brother left the small dorm.

* * *

While the meeting was supposed to be about making a plan to deal with aliens, it certainly didn't go that way. Somehow, the group had gotten into a discussion about religion.

"We don't even have any active churches in Gotham, only one really old abandoned church," Tim announced from behind his laptop screen in his argument of why they (meaning the Gothamites) aren't that religious. "And the nearest church is about an hour outside the city, so…" he trailed off, as an alert appeared on his screen. *10% Low Battery – 15 Minutes Remaining – Please Find a Power Source*

"That's not true," Jason mumbled before taking a sip from his cold coffee. He had been watching Roy fiddle with… whatever the hell that mess of parts was supposed to be… and spaced out, lost in thoughts. However, Tim's comment grabbed his attention just like his own comment grabbed the rest of the room's attention, several pairs of wide eyes on him, as if most of the heroes all had forgotten he was in the room. Which was entirely plausible, seeing as Jason hadn't moved or spoken since he sat down.

Based on the looks he was receiving, Jason guessed that they were waiting for him to elaborate. His fami— fellow Gotham vigilantes especially looked confused; Tim even looked slightly offended. Jason couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"You said there are no active churches in Gotham, which isn't true. We actually have not one, not two, but three churches in Gotham." Tim looked to Dick for confirmation, who just shrugged. And while the rest of the room couldn't pick up on it, Jason saw that even Bruce had doubt in Jason's claim (not like that's new). Sighing, he continued.

"There is the old Lutheran church on Orchid Lane. St. Mary's is on 115th. Then John the Baptist on 8th and Garrett." He sipped his coffee as he and the rest of the room watched the Gotham heroes take in the information. Bruce, as usual, remained his stoic self. Dick looked heavenwards as if trying to picture the city in his head but then was drawn to Tim's side as the younger pulled up a city map on his laptop. Tim suddenly shook his head and turned to Jason.

"Nonono, John's the abandoned one so that doesn't count."

"No," Jason spoke slowly, "Holy Trinity is the abandoned church. John's is still up and running. I was there about two weeks ago." He took another sip of coffee.

"Wait, you go to church?" Hal asked before laughing slightly. "I'm sorry, I don't buy that."

Billy put his hand on the pilot's shoulder and leaned in to whisper in his ear. But Hal pushes him away.

"No, I won't!" Hal snapped, clearly referring to whatever was whispered into his ear.

"So, you're saying," Green Lantern pointed at Hood, "that you, the guy who goes on murdering sprees just for the hell of it, go to church. Seems a little sacrilegious, don't you think?"

Bruce bit his lip as he watched his son's reaction. He remembers saying almost the exact same thing on that rooftop and apparently Jason did too because the younger man glanced towards him with venom in his gaze.

Anyone in the room could see the sudden shift in the young man. His jaw was clenched and tension radiated off of him in waves. The narrowed, fiery blue eyes resembled a thin sheet of ice covering a deep lake. Take one wrong step and you'd fall through, susceptible to the cold abyss below. Anyone in their right mind would back off. However, it appeared Hal was not in his right mind.

"First of all," Jason seethed, "I don't kill anymore. I haven't in years."

"Oh yeah that reminds me, why did you stop killing? Sudden change of heart?" Hal mocked. Jason snorted and responded with a 'hell no.' That was clearly the wrong response. Everyone watched him wide-eyed before turning to Batman.

"Hang on. Batman, you said-" Arthur began before the man himself interrupted.

"I said he stopped killing. Nothing more." Bruce shut the discussion down quickly. He could see the question in Jason's mind, but it went unasked.

"You never answered the question," Martian Manhunter observed.

"And I don't have to." Jason retorted.

"May I ask why you started?" said Raven.

Jason mulled over the thought before shaking his head. Anyone who has been in association with Jason knew why. It was a complicated mess that would only lead to more questions and a nasty trip down memory lane for the wayward Robin. Nonetheless, the other heroes complained, desperate to know the reason behind the massacres that the infamous Red Hood left in his wake.

Jason blew some air, causing the hair hanging on his forehead to move upwards and raised his hands in a somewhat surrender. "I won't tell why I started, but if I tell you why I chose to kill, will you shut the hell up? Hmm?" The others were content with this arrangement, so Jay continued. "It's actually really simple. Too many criminals were getting away with crimes or only receiving a slap on the wrist. I was sick of seeing families lose loved ones with no justice done, so by killing, I stopped criminals from doing any more damage." He sat back to observe the group of goody-two-shoes among him. Of course, half of them one hundred percent disagreed with his words and were ready to jump in to argue. However, some at least looked as if they understood, just chose a different route.

"And went around Gotham killing assholes, knowing full well what the big guy would think," Zatanna smirked.

Jason chuckled softly at that. "Aww, that's adorable. You thought I cared about that." He clarified when he saw the confusion on everyone's faces. He lost all humor in his voice and made sure Bruce was in his eye-line when he said, "Truth is, I couldn't, and might I add, still don't, give a single flying fuck about what Batman thinks."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room as everyone waited for Bruce to accept the challenge, including Jason.

However, it was Superman who spoke next. "Sooooo," he drawled, "are we gonna ignore the fact that Hood knows the layout of the city better than all of the Gotham heroes. Even Batman, the guy who practically worships the city.

"It's probably because Bats and co. thought the closest church was an hour away," Oliver jested. "I mean, seriously, dude, how could an outsider know Gotham better than you?"

Jason titled his head at that. "An outsider? What do you mean?" While Jason kept from sharing details about his personal life whenever he could help it, this was one of those instances where he couldn't help himself. Mostly because he thought this was obvious information. "You know I'm from Gotham, right?"

Oliver opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to come up with a response that didn't leave him looking like an idiot. But, based on all the incredulous looks he was receiving from everyone else, he already failed. "Well", he stammered, "I do now."

He frowned as the rest of the room chuckled at his misunderstanding. Barry, who was to his immediate right, laughed so hard that he almost fell out of the chair. Turning his attention to the speedster, Oliver grumbled, "Oh, like you knew."

Barry took a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to control his laughter and after about half a minute, he managed to say, "Bro, everyone knew!" before laughing even louder and more uncontrollably. Oliver crossed his arms and slumped into his chair. Noticing her husband's amusing embarrassment, Dinah leaned down to give a kiss on his rapidly reddening cheek.

Desperate to take back some control (and dignity), Oliver waved his arm to silence the room before repeating his question about how Hood knows Gotham better than Batman, only this time not labeling the gunslinging vigilante as an outsider.

"Well." Tim responded, "seeing as Hood is the only one actually from Gotham, it would make sense how he knows the city better."

The room fell into complete silence as the information was being processed. Heros glanced at each other to confirm that they weren't alone in their confusion. Tim rubbed the back of his neck, not exactly liking how everyone was staring at him. Even Jason didn't know what to make of Tim's statement. It felt like his brain was going a hundred miles per hour then crashed right into a brick wall. The silence finally broke as people recovered from the initial confusion and gained the ability to speak once more.

"Wait… what?!"

"Hold up."

"I think we need to back up a bit."

"But didn't Batman… I thought…"

"Ha! Betcha didn't know that, _Barry!"_

"Once again, neither did you, _Ollie!"_

"I'm confused."

"Can you elaborate on that?"

"Imma little lost."

Many heroes started speaking all at once and it was only once Diana whistled, _quite loudly,_ that the room settled. Bouncing in his seat, Barry raised his hand like a child waiting to be called on by his teacher.

"What's up, Flash?" Tim pointed to the speedster with one hand while pinching the bridge of his nose with the other. He messed up and based on the glare coming from his left, Bruce was not happy.

"SoyousaidthatRedHoodwastheonlyonefromGothambuIthoughtBatmanforsurewasfromGothamand—"

"Whoa! I can't understand a single word you're saying so go slower. Please," Tim folded his hands under his chin. Barry took a deep breath before retrying.

"What Iwas sayingwas that Ithought—"

"Slower, Flash."

"You said that the Red Hood was the only one from Gotham but isn't Batman from Gotham, too? What about the rest of you guys?" Despite speaking slower, Barry stilled bounced in his seat in anticipation. Oliver leaned forward in his seat, a smile on his face (glad the attention was no longer on him). Man, the emerald archer thought, Hood should come around more often; this is interesting. Even Damian himself began to pay attention since he too believed all of them, except Dick and himself, were from Gotham.

"I don't know what he is talking about," Bruce stepped forward, "because I'm from Gotham."

But Tim was already shaking his head in disagreement. "Technically, you live on the outskirts of the city."

"But that's still Gotham," Bruce countered.

"Well does that really count as Gotham because you grew up in the sheltered coziness of the manor? And I'm the same, so don't give me any crap about this later." He pointed at the black-clad hero, who narrowed his eyes in return. Fortunately for Tim, Bruce's attention was drawn away from him and to Jason, who laughed behind his coffee cup. Still, Tim swallowed before gesturing to Dick and Damian. "And they aren't from even from this country, so they're out of the running. And lastly," he nodded towards Jason, "he grew up in the actual city itself, so technically Ja–er, Hood is the only one who is a true Gothamite. I rest my case." Tim kept his eyes away from his older brother, knowing it was impossible for the latter to miss the close slipup.

"Well, this has been entertaining," Batman spoke with a tone that betrayed his previous statement, "but shouldn't we move on to more pressing matters."

The room almost immediately sobered up and they went around the room discussing ideas, none of which would work. Jason watched in curiosity and amusement. How the hell did these people get anything done? His mirth didn't go unnoticed, however, because once again, Hal drew attention to him.

"Alrighty hotshot," he snarked, "whatcha got?"

Oh, he had something, alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the ending, but I'm hoping to give the plan and the battle their individual chapters, so that's why I ended it there.
> 
> Anyways, we finally got the fallout between Bruce and Jason! I didn't intend for it to go that way when I started to write it but that's just what kinda happened the more I wrote. So whatcha guys think?
> 
> Sorry if you thought this was way too OOC for some characters, but this was just me having fun.
> 
> Please review!
> 
> (apologies for mistakes)


	6. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Jason attempts to share his plan, the group seem to have a contest on who can piss him off the most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Yeah so I lost all my work this summer so I had to rewrite both this chapter and the last. I'm not done revising the last one but I am aiming for that to be out around Christmas. Hopefully. I might split it in two to give you guys the first half which is almost done being edited. Sorry for the long wait. Here's a "who will piss Jason off the most" chapter!
> 
> Also, warning: near the end of Dick's POV, Orlando's crimes are kinda discussed and it may trigger some of you. I hope it doesn't and it might not even be bad but I still want to warn you. It starts when Tim says "Oh by the way," Tim's voice came through muffled, "I found out who Carlos Orlando is and what he did." and ends at the line which signals shift in POV.

Dick put a spoonful of cereal into his mouth as he watched his brother pull out his phone and within a couple of seconds, the screen that was put up in the makeshift conference room came to life with a security clip waiting to be played.

"Here we are," Jason sang. "So what I've noticed was—"

"How did you get into our servers?" Cyborg cut him off, looking completely baffled and slightly angry. Reasonable, of course. Some outsider comes in, a known "criminal," and has access to all the secrets of the Justice League. Yeah, Dick could see the cause for concern.

"Wasn't that hard. Anyways-" He let out a long exhale as once again, he was interrupted.

"No no, I personally created the firewalls to protect the network," the half-man, half-machine stated, adamant that his question receives an answer. "It's unhackable."

"Unless you hack it," Jay and Tim say at the same time. Dick chuckled at his two brothers but quickly turned the laugh into a cough once Cyborg turned his glare towards him. He glanced at Jason and let the silent conversation unfold.

'Just answer him so you can move on'

'It's not even that important'

'Just answer the damn question, Jason!'

His brother rolled his eyes but complied. "Alright look. The system is essentially the same one Bats has in his cave and Burger Boy over there," Tim frowned at the nickname, "most likely worked his magic when he got the gig. And I am familiarized with his coding so once I got past your firewalls, brilliant work by the way, it was a simple hop skip and a jump into his backdoor. There, satisfied?" Victor was definitely not satisfied. He turned to frown at the techie Robin, who hid behind his laptop. Getting nothing from Tim, Victor shifted his gaze to Bruce. Dick glanced up at his mentor, curious as to what he would do since clearly, something had to be done. There is no way the League would rest easy knowing the infamous Red Hood has access to their systems. Bruce held up a finger with a slight nod, signaling he'll speak to the gunslinger later.

"No, I most certainly am not!" Cyborg fumed.

"Very well, how 'bout… umm I found the admin password on a sticky note. That work for ya?"

"No."

"Then I don't know what to tell ya."

Victor's frown deepened when Jason stopped responding after that. Next to Dick, Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. This was gonna be a long meeting.

While none of the Gotham heroes, except for Babs, were nearly as good with computers as Tim

was, it wasn't too much of a stretch to imagine Jason breaking into the League mainframe. It's more than likely that his brother has hacked the Batcomputer as well. Plus, Jay has been on his own for a very long time, so knowing how to use a computer was basically a necessity. Hell, he even managed to make himself completely untraceable from the rest of the BatClan. Which was extremely annoying at times.

Then again, it also wasn't a stretch to imagine Jason legitimately discovering the password on accident.

Meanwhile, Jason began rediscussing his findings. "Like I was saying, I've noticed that this alpha alien is controlling the other two. Here, watch this." He pressed play and the clip started, showing an overhead view of the fight that took place the previous night. Everyone watched, or in some cases rewatched, Superman hit the smallest of the aliens away before it recovered and went after Shazam. Without a word, Jason made another video appear on the screen, the same footage only with a different angle, and left the two play at the same time.

In the new video, one could see the largest of the aliens turn its focus to the fight once the little one got hit.

"You see how Tiny right here gets hurt but is able to bounce back and kick ass only after the big guy sees the issue. Well-"

"Wait," Gar spoke up from where he sat next to some of the other titans. Dick smiled as his brother dropped his head to his chest, clearly annoyed that he can barely go thirty seconds without some sort of interruption. "I already know I'm not gonna be able to keep these aliens straight. Why don't we give them names?"

"Because we don't need to!" Jason snapped before forcing himself to calm down. It would do no good to lose his shit over nothing so he took a deep breath and clenched his hand into a fist. It was a tactic taught to all of them. The pain of the nails biting into the skin would redirect their attention, allowing them to focus on the sensation rather than whatever was irritating them.

Dick couldn't help but recall a previous conversation the two of them shared back when Jason donned the yellow R. It was after he first met the League. Jason had basically become the Energizer Bunny with how much he was moving. He recalled Jason telling him about everything that had happened with such enthusiasm that he didn't have the heart to tell the kid that the League had purposefully aimed to impress the youngster, that they weren't the professional group who always got straight to business. Jay would learn on his own in time. Dick allowed his brother the moment of utter glee.

In fact, it was only a couple of meetings after when Dick and Jason stood next to each other, witnessing how the League acts in its natural habitat, not preening for others. Jason had shaken his head in disbelief and whispered how amazed he was that any work got done, to which Dick left out a slight chuckle. That statement was beyond accurate.

Current Jason had let his head fall to his chest and it hung there for a couple of seconds. Those blue eyes looked up and through the dark bangs that acted as a barrier and met his older brother's mirthful gaze. The latter gave a half-shrug and raised his eyebrows in a Having Fun? fashion. Jason rolled his eyes before straightening and returning to the green shape-shifter.

"Look, it'd be a huge waste of time, time we don't have, and besides they're pretty easy to differentiate. The big one literally doesn't move. And the two smaller ones don't even look similar. May I continue?" Looking back, it had been foolish to even bother asking.

"No no, I'm with Gar. I vote we call them the three stooges." Bart suggested. "That big one can be Larry and that blue one-"

"How 'bout we name them after the three musketeers?" Wally countered with his own idea before pausing. "Anyone know their names?"

At that, Jason intertwined his fingers behind his neck and tipped his head heavenward. "How do you not… you know what, I don't c... This isn't important. Like at all. So, for all that is holy in this world, can we please move the fuck along!" The chide for Jason's swearing came from beside Dick, but it either went unheard or ignored. Dick's money is on the latter.

His smile grew at his brother's frustration. Jason is one of the biggest book nerds he knows (Dick's 99.99% positive that he could go to any library, pick any book, and Jason could give a complete synopsis) and he could see the urge in his younger brother's eyes to go on a rant about Dumas' novel, but as mentioned, they didn't have the time for it. They also didn't have time for this entire conversation, yet...

"Let's do yellow, red, and blue. Ya know like after the primary colors! We can call the blue one Blue for starters," the young Jon smiled.

"Actually the primary colors are yellow, magenta, and cyan," Damian said under his breath, irritated that this conversation was even occurring, not unlike his older brother. "Besides, if you are gonna name them based on how they look, then you're able to tell them apart, which renders this entire discussion pointless." Dick waved his hand, signaling to not even bother. Once this group got going, oh boy, there was no stopping them. Best to just let this conversation run its course.

"Ooh, I got it: Bert and Ernie!" Barry shouted excitedly.

Oliver gave him a bewildered look. "But there are three of them…"

"You know what, just call them 1,2,&3\. Simple," Clark offered. Dick smiled as Jason had a hopeful look dance across his face. Superman is the leader so he'd be listened to... right?

Dick's delight increased as that hope was completely destroyed, like put in a shredder, lit on fire, then dumped into the sewer. His younger brother threw his hands up in defeat upon seeing Barry shaking his head vigorously. Dick's laughter almost caused him to spill his cereal, which must. Never. Happen. Cereal is far too important in this world. After he recovered from the near-disaster, Dick scooped more cereal on his spoon as he continued to observe the weirdest (best) conversation to ever happen at a Justice League meeting. And that was saying something.

"That's boring," the speedster whined, "How are you gonna be able to tell two and three apart?"

"How are you gonna tell Bert and Ernie apart?!" Clark countered.

"That one has a long head so he'd be Bert."

"Again that's only two and we need three," Oliver reiterated. Next to him, his wife smiled sweetly at his futile attempts to change Barry's mind.

"Wait why don't we just call that one big head then. That way you know who we're talking about," Clark said. He rolled his eyes when Barry mumbled something along the lines of the Kryptonian not having an imagination.

Seeing Jason's growing frustration, Kori leaned next to him and whispered something into his ear. Dick watched his little brother bite his lip to try and fight the smile, but alas, he failed. That's how things were with Kori. You could always rely on her to ease some stress. She could just take one look and know how to fix you. A true angel. A golden, red-haired, perfect angel.

Dick's cheeks flushed when he realized he was staring. But how could he not? The Tamaranean princess commanded attention with her fiery hair and spirit, the way those green eyes rivaled any emerald. He missed her. Yeah, they still talked, but not like they used to. Not like how she was currently talking to his brother. Dick gripped his spoon tighter till his knuckles turned white. His stomach twisted. Now, that's not fair. How come they're so chummy? Wait… what am I saying?

Releasing both the spoon and tension, Dick chided himself. His reaction was unwarranted. Jason and Kori didn't have that type of relationship; they were friends, nothing more. A small voice whispered As far as you know, but he stomped down on that. True, he didn't know if the two of them shared more intimate moments; however, it was not his place to say or do anything about it. He winced at the thought of even trying. Oh, the backlash he would receive from either one of them, God forbid both of them if he attempted to interfere.

Forcing himself to look away, Dick found his eyes on the person to Jason's left. No, his other left. Roy. The redhead's focus was entirely on the odd contraption placed before him. In fact, way too focused. Dick had known him long enough to know that almost nothing could be considered deserving of ADHD redhead's complete attention, especially not the amount that pile of scrap metal and wires was receiving. Dick allowed the voices to become nothing but fuzzy static as he observed the young man. Slight pout. Shaky hands. Refusal to let his eyes even start to drift to his left. Ahh. Dick could have slapped his forehead, it was so obvious. It appeared that the archer and the acrobat were more similar than previously thought. Both had developed the same tactic: repression through redirection. Dick tilted his head. Had something happened between Roy and Kori? Were they not speaking to each other or on

the same awkward middle ground Dick found himself on? Well, hello company, said Misery.

There was pressure in his shoulder, causing Dick to snap out of his reverie. He glanced up and met the questioning gaze of his mentor. Giving a thumbs up in response to the unasked question, Dick took another bite of his cereal as he reassessed the room. Exactly how long had he spaced out? Kori was no longer attached to Jason and the latter now looked like he wanted to slam his head against a wall. Ahh, so not much truly changed.

Several ideas had flowed back and forth between the large group. Even he had to admit, this was getting to be a bit much. Although, he was surprised Bruce hadn't stepped in yet. Normally, a conversation such as this one would have barely even been let out of the gates before the King of a Seriousness pumped the brakes.

He glanced back up and watched as Bruce surveyed the entire room, eyes bouncing from person to person. However, his gaze always returned to one specific person. Holy hell. Dammit, Bruce. That's why he wasn't stepping in. Bruce was waiting to see what Jason would do. He could already see how that would go down. It would be like having a small, containable spark and pouring a gallon of gasoline on top, then acting surprised when the house goes up in flames. Like that 'surprised Pikachu face' (yes, Tim, he knows what a meh-may is). Basically, it was an idiotic move on Bruce's part, as were most whenever Jason was involved.

Dick had to put an end to this, which obviously meant he'd need to come up with some names since that seemed to be the only way out. Sure, he could tell everyone to shut up or something, but that isn't as fun. He went to put another spoonful in his mouth as an idea popped into his head. "How bout we name them after cereal?"

The room glanced between him and the bowl in front of him. Tim was the one to verbalize the question.

"Is it because you're literally eating cereal right now?"

"… no."

"Wow. Said with such confidence."

Dick stuck his tongue out at his little brother, who, in return, gave him a look that said 'How old are you?' before the acrobat claimed, "I'm serious though. The big one can be Capt. Crunch because he's leading them—"

"Actually," Hal said, "Crunch isn't a captain, he's a commander. You can tell by the number of stripes on his sleeve." The group stared at him for a moment before Dick kept going, determined to sell his pitch.

"Anyways! The nasty blue looking one can be Cookie Crisps, we can call that disgusting being CC for short—"

"Whoa! Wait just a moment there!" Roy yelled. "Cookie crisps are amazing! How dare you!" Jason groaned next to his friend. Dick should keep quiet for the sake of his brother's sanity, but this was unacceptable. Roy just started a battle he won't win.

"I'm sorry, but do you have taste buds? Cookie crisps are horrible, you heathen!" Dick shouted back. In his outburst, he stood up too quickly, resulting in hell on earth. The cereal bowl tipped and began its descent to the floor. But to his ultimate relief, Bruce caught the bowl, managing to only allow a couple of drops of milk spill. Dick let out a huge sigh and reached out for the bowl. However, Bruce brought it out of reach with a warning look in his eyes. Dick weighed his options. Get the cereal back or keep arguing. Honestly, it was no contest. Cereal wins. Every time.

He held his hands in surrender (enjoy this victory while it lasts, Roy, because it will not be happening again), smiling when the bowl was gently placed in front of him. Dick was about to eat another spoon when he noticed all eyes on him, bewildered. "Alas, I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah! As I was saying, the other small guy kinda has an orange tint to it so how bout Sonny?"

"Sunny?" J'onn repeated slowly, clearly confused. "I thought you wanted cereals?"

"Yeah, Sonny is the bird who is coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs."

Jason currently sat with his head in his hands, elbows on the table, in complete disbelief. While the conversation had been lighthearted, the fact remained; there was a timer on the world, and Earth's only hope was discussing characters, colors, and cereal as the harsh red numbers ticked down, moving closer and closer to the inevitable all zeros.

The energy of the room changed when Jay slammed his hand on the table. Dick winced. He knew his brother was nearing his wit's end, and he could already see the Hood starting to break through Jason. It is not going to be a pretty sight if that happened. No sir.

"For the love of God, may I continue?! Or would you rather keep sitting on your asses, talking about insignificant bullshit? I could not give a single flying fuck about what to call these aliens as long as we can move the fuck on." The room made no movement, not even Hal made an attempt to further push the young man. When he received no retort, Jason allowed himself to breathe. "No? Wonderful! So, as I was trying to say five minutes ago if you'd watch carefully right as Sups hits the leader— forgive me, CC...wait. Is CC Capt. Crunch or Cookie Crisps?"

Dick raised his eyebrows as Jay paused, taking a deep breath. He lifted his head up towards the ceiling and spoke.

"I'm soooo gonna regret bringing this up, but we technically have two aliens that could be abbreviated to CC, and that's just way too many C's to keep track of. Change one. Quickly," he couldn't stress enough.

"Well technically Cocoa could also be shortened to CC so all three could be called CC," Roy uttered beside him.

"Fine. Captain Crunch can be changed to Tony the Tiger." Dick offered.

"Why not change Cookie Crisps to Tony? After all, it would make sense to keep Captain as Captain since that particular alien seems to be in charge so that one should remain," Wonder Girl proposed.

"Because Frosted Flakes are awesome and don't deserve to be associated with that garbage!" Dick yelled. He mumbled apologies after Bruce cleared his throat, ordering Dick to settle down.

"Ok wow," Jason blinked before waving his hand as he said, "You know what, forget about what I said. I'll just rename Cookie Crisps to Chip."

"Why Chip?"

"Because that's the name of the Cookie Crisps' wolf … I am so sad that I know that."

"As you were saying," Bruce prompted Jason.

"Right," he snapped his fingers, "so it's only after Capt. Crunch realizes there is a threat that it is able to address and respond adequately. Notice how Sups easily bitch-slaps Chip but once Captain sees this, he gives the command for Chip to hit back with just as much force. It just so happens that Shazam was the closest person to be on the receiving end of that force. Don't believe me, here, watch. Look, Cap's eyes kinda glow then bam! Chip is back in the game.

"And here, Sonny is able to chase after Flash once Capt sees that Flash is a new threat. And I can show you several more examples, but I think we're good, so imma move on."

Another video began to play, this time showing the end of the fight when the alpha alien got hit by both a sonic screen and a small explosive. The explosion caused the footage to cut out briefly before resuming, showing the same image as before, the only difference was that there were no more aliens on the screen. The recording ended and Diana was the first to speak.

"A hit to Captain made all of them leave, most likely so it could recover. But the others weren't hurt. Why did they leave with it?" She paused in contemplation before enlightenment dawned on her face. "Oh, so the big one not only controls the others to make them attack us but also to defend itself. I'm guessing Captain is essentially the brain and Chip and Sonny are the limbs. They cannot function without a brain to tell them what to do."

"Well, color me impressed. It's nice to know at least one of you has their wits," Jason smiled. His comments received some grumbles around the room. Which, of course, were ignored. "Anyways, based on what we were talking about before the Brady Brunch here attacked in addition to this, I figured out how to get rid of the bastards."

Jason began discussing how to kill the 'brainy' aliens. Since their attention was split between the two small ones, they were left with a blind spot. And they hated Canary's Cry, so if they used high-pitched noises to divert their attention even more, someone could kill it from the blind spot. And killing it should theoretically kill the others. And even if it didn't, they wouldn't be able to mimic different powers and would basically be headless chickens.

Furthermore, he didn't believe that Captain was the true brain, so if they find and kill that, again, the rest would probably die. But that 'brain' would most likely be heavily guarded on the ship, so most of the heroes would need to distract the majority of the aliens so that a smaller group of the League could take out the real leader.

He pulled up a map of a forest in Russia that had a cluster of clearings spaced between trees. If they separated into groups, the aliens would only be able to mimic the powers of the heroes in whichever clearing they found themselves in.

"What if we had the speedsters running between the clearings?" Barry asked. "And if we can get the aliens to follow us into a different group, we could attack them with completely different powers before they had time to adapt."

"Actually yeah, that would work," Jason affirmed.

Barry smiled, then motioned for Jason's phone. The gunslinger tossed it and Barry began making marks on the map. "Okay, so I say we use these three clearings right here." He labeled three fields that made up almost a perfect triangle. "We use one and two to move the aliens between, and three for almost a rest area. 'Cause I don't know about you guys, but they have us significantly outnumbered and I can't go indefinitely."

Arthur then asked for the phone. Now it should be mentioned Jason and Barry weren't that far away from each other. Barry and Arthur on the other hand…

Jason's eyes went wide and he barely got out a "don't" before Barry drew his arm back and threw the device. Half the room winced as Barry completely missed the mark and the phone hit the wall.

Dick put his hands over his mouth in horror. Arthur gingerly picked up the phone and looked sheepishly at Jason. His brother held his head in his hands, shaking it slightly

"Sorry," mumbled Barry. Oliver smacked the back of his head.

The silence was deafening as the group waited for Jason to react. After a bit, he slid his hands down, placing them together in prayer form, and hooked his thumbs under his chin. Jason met Arthur's gaze and muttered, "Do I wanna know?"

"Actually, it's fine."

Barry's eyes lit up. He placed a hand over his heart and let out a breath. "Phew. Thank god!"

Jason's eyes flicked to his. Barry swallowed. "I mean, of course, it's fine. Why wouldn't it be? You would need a durable phone to do all your maim… I mean... umm… vigilante-ing." Jason hummed, still watching the speedster squirm. Barry glanced next to him with pleading eyes. Oliver leaned back in his chair with raised hands. Barry looked next to him at the archer's wife, who just shrugged with a sparkle in her eyes, not even bothering to hide the beginnings of a smile.

Across the room, Arthur decided to put Barry out of his misery. "Anyways - hey!" He snapped his fingers. Jason dragged his gaze away from the speedster with a blink, attention on Arthur when he opened his eyes. "Anyways, anyone who can fly should be going after the ship. That should be a given right." When everyone agreed, Aquaman continued. "So, the rest of us need to be split into three groups. I like Flash's idea on breaks, but I'm gonna take it a step further. We should just have only two groups in play at one time and have a third group on standby. We just cycle through the groups like so," he drew three arrows on the screen so that each clearing pointed to the one clockwise to it.

"We would just need to decide who goes in which group," he added.

Conversations spurred to life around the room as the heroes came up with more strategies and possible group assignments. Next to Dick, Tim typed on his laptop, muttering under his breath about how to add remote-controlled sentry guns in the trees. Dick let his brother figure out those logistics.

He glanced behind him to see Bruce assess the room. His mouth wasn't stuck in that grimace for once. He seemed, dare Dick say, relaxed. The acrobat huffed out a breath at the idea.

Bruce's eyes shifted down to him. There was a slight twitch in his face. And Dick, being a fluent speaking of Batman-ish, understood. What?

"Admit it," Dick smirked, "you're proud."

"Hmm."

Dick rolled his eyes. "Real eloquent."

Bruce gave him a deadpanned look that had him swiveling away. He took another bite of cereal as he refocused his attention on Jay. He was talking with Riy about the mess of wires and metal in front of them. When his brother went to touch it, Roy caught his wrist. Whatever he said to Jason had the vigilante's hand snapping back and seeking comfort against his chest. Oh, Dick really wanted to be over there now. Jason's eyes were wide and kept shifting between Roy and the contraption. Roy shrugged. Kori tapped Jason's shoulder, and while he slightly turned to accommodate the new conversation, he never looked away from Roy's thingamabob, watching it as if it would suddenly come to life and attack him. What the hell did Roy say?

A few more minutes passed of conversation. Unfortunately, Dick finished his cereal. He slumped in his chair, slowly tracing the rim of the bowl with the edge of his finger.

"Oh no."

Dick followed the noise and turned. Bruce was staring at J'onn, who in turn was staring at Jason. His brother was just talking with Roy and Kori, phone in front of him. When did that happen? It was interesting, but not really significant. He looked back at his mentor. "What's wrong?"

Bruce jerked his chin at J'onn. Dick glanced back, trying to figure out what had captured Bruce's attention. But for the life of him he couldn't. Once more, he turned around. When he shrugged, Bruce sighed.

"Wait for it," he growled. Now it was Dick's turn to sigh.

"Is this gonna be a horrible thing that you could have prevented but for some inane reason, you aren't?"

"Hmm, probably." Dick threw his hands in the air. Unbelievable.

Before Dick could respond, Bruce straightened.

"You are not going to join us, are you?"

Dick whirled around as the room grew quiet. J'onn was still staring at Jason, but now Jason, and everyone else, was staring right back.

Jason's brow furrowed as he contemplated the odd and out of nowhere question. "Pardon?"

"This fight," J'onn spoke. "You are not planning to be there with us."

The attention went to the young man. Jason didn't even have to say anything. The slight resignation in his eyes along with how he squared his shoulders told Dick all he needed.

"You're not fighting with us?!"

Jason didn't even turn towards him. "No."

"But on the roof you said-"

"I said I would listen to your plan, which you didn't even have. Hell, I told you basically everything you need to know. But I never said anything about actually fighting with you." Dick thought back to that night. Technically Jason's right, but he expected more from his brother.

"Hood," Dick pleaded, "You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I can."

"But Batman said-" Shazam started.

"First of all, Batman says a lot of things, most of which are complete bullshit, so don't hang on his words like he's some god." Jason spat out with a sneer. Dick could almost see the steam starting to escape from the black pointy ears next to him. "Second of all, Batman sure as hell doesn't speak for me. He should have been smart enough to know not to make another promise he couldn't keep. But who am I kidding? He does that every other day." Up until this point, Jason maintained eye contact with Shazam, but when he was done, he turned to Bruce with a humorless smile. "Isn't that right, B?"

Dick raised his hand to Bruce's chest, stopping him from moving. Shaking his head, Dick managed to communicate the 'stand down.' However, if the narrowed eyes and clenched gloves were any indicator, he would be ignored. Figures.

Jason tracked every motion, eyes lighting up when his old mentor first moved. He seemed almost disappointed when he realized that Bruce wasn't gonna fight back, but he said nothing. Tim wouldn't stop glancing between Bruce and Jason, muscles tight. Even Damian had reached for the Batarang he always quite literally kept hidden up his sleeve. None of them were quite assured that a fight still wouldn't break out. Damn it, Bruce. Please stand down.

Diana, bless her heart, decided to remove some of the tension. She asked with honest curiosity,

"Why won't you help?"

She slightly succeeded as Jason turned to her (therefore away from Bruce). "Why should I? I've done more in less than two days than you guys have done since this problem first arose. The only thing I agreed to do was listen and I've already gone way past that. Now you're saying I have to do even more?" Diana, to many's disbelief, accepted this answer. She remembered his reluctance and appreciated that he agreed to help in the first place, even if it was through blackmail.

"Think of it as penance," Martian Manhunter offered. "A chance to pay back for the wrongs you believe you've caused."

Oh no. Tread very carefully.

Jason's eyes narrowed as he studied the green alien. Roy tapped Jason's shoulder and when his friend turned to him, the archer muttered a question and Jason gave a small shake of his head with a shrug. He then refaced J'onn, tension in his shoulders and hands behind his back, probably to hide his newly formed fists. "Seeing as many believe my existence is in itself a wrong," he spat with venom," you should probably be a tad more specific."

J'onn pondered for a moment, before saying a name.

"Carlos Orlando."

Jason froze. A million emotions were displayed on his face but Dick couldn't quite lock onto any. Who was Carlos Orlando? And why did just his name cause Jason to spook?

Tim typed something onto his laptop. More than likely he was searching for information on this mystery man.

The other heroes were glancing between J'onn and Jason. Many wanted to ask questions, but something about how the young man reacted kept them quiet.

Jason blinked himself out of whatever revere he had been in. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to find the words he was looking for. Dick had never seen his brother so speechless before. It was unnerving. There was a beat before he managed to speak.

"How do you," he whispered before clearing his throat. "How do you know that name?" It seemed Jason let the power of the false bravado flow through him because he continued with a defiant note to his voice. "And for that matter, how'd you know I wasn't going to fi-"

Something had to be going through his mind because this was a change in Jason. He clicked his jaw shut and straightened. No longer was there confusion in his eyes. No no. That had been burned away from the fire that was currently raging. There was also an eerie calmness about him that made Dick shiver.

He's not gonna lie. Sometimes Jason scared him.

He sees a storm in his brother. There is thunder rolling just under his skin, fighting to release a torrential downpour that would wreak havoc upon everything it touches. Electricity in his veins instead of blood. A true force of nature that is not to be reckoned with. Now Martian Manhunter was strong and powerful. He doubts Jason could take him on and come out the victor. But the Red Hood could. And the young man in front of him was looking less like Jason Todd and more like Red Hood. He firmly believed that if there was a gun in the vicinity, the Martian would resemble a Jackson Pollock piece. Then again, Dick has seen Hood deal substantial damage with just his hands.

But that being said, there was still enough Jason in front of him that gave Dick hope, hope that they weren't about to have a complete massacre on their hands. God, this amount of stress in such little time will cause Dick to go into early retirement. He pulled on the tips of his hair to check for any grey hairs. Phew, he's good for now. Possibly. He'll check later when he has access to a mirror.

Regret appeared on J'onn's face. He placed his hands in front of him in a placating manner. "I apologize. I realize I have made an error in judgment."

"Ya think," Jason seethed.

What the hell was going on?

"Would you prefer if I refrained from entering your mind in the future?" J'onn asked.

Ahh.

Well, this explains Bruce's 'oh no.'

"Gee, I wonder," Jason answered caustically, malice lacing the words. Well, at least some light had been shed on the situation.

While J'onn wouldn't read any member of the League's mind without permission, Jason wasn't a member. In their eyes, he was a criminal. So, Dick could understand why J'onn did it. Still didn't make it acceptable though. Privacy was one of the most important things to Jason. And the one private place anyone could truly rely on is their own mind. If that's taken away…

"However, I believe I should clarify something," J'onn said. When Jason raised an eyebrow, he continued, "When I brought up Mr. Orlando, I was not referring to the actions you took against him."

At the disbelief on the young man's face, J'onn continued.

"You wish you could have done more for those women, do you not?" At the Martian's words, Dick could see all semblance of the Hood leave instantly. While there was almost no perceptible change in his brother's stance, Dick could tell it was indeed his brother in front of him. Jason was doing a spectacular job at keeping his face blank, but no matter how hard people try, humans have no control over the eyes. They're called the windows to the soul for a reason. Those blue-green eyes held pain and regret. He knew that look. It was the same look Jason had this morning in the bathroom. Which now makes sense. Pieces started falling into place. The tense phone call. The even tenser rooftop. Dick might not know the specifics, but whatever happened during that case, Jason clearly took it to heart. He always does whenever things go horribly, horribly wrong.

J'onn attempted a comforting smile before saying, "What happened was unfortunate and I'm truly sorry, but the truth is you can't do more. There is nothing more anyone can do for them. But you can still help others by helping us. If we lose, many will be condemned to a horrible fate. And if we lose, we lose. Your presence on the battlefield might not even make a difference. But if it does, if it truly does make a difference, are you prepared to face the consequences if you decide not to join us?"

The vigilante remained silent.

"I know you've done more than what was asked of you and I know it is unfair of us to continue to ask for your help. But we have to ask it."

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb then transitioned to his full hand as he scrubbed down the lower half of his face.

"You guys really don't take no for an answer," he muttered.

"Not normally, no," J'onn responded. Jason huffed with a small shake of his head. He glanced towards Dick. He silently pleaded with his brother.

Please, Jaybird. Don't do this.

Jason nibbled slightly on his bottom lip.

Please!

His brother flicked his eyes upwards, looking just above Dick's head. He crossed his fingers under the table. Don't mess this up, Bruce.

Dick felt his stomach turn as Jason's eyes hardened. His brother turned back to Martian Manhunter, radiating with his usual defiance.

"Well, no time like the present to start learning. I said no."

Many voices started up at once. There were complaints about his decision, pleadings for him to stay. Dick would have thought it ironic how people's opinions of Jason have done a complete one-eighty if his head wasn't swirling at it all.

But then one voice came across clearer than the others.

"Hey, we don't need this guy," Hal said. "If he is too scared to fight, that's fine by me." To Dick's amazement, Jason didn't rise to the bait. He didn't even dignify the stupidity of that reasoning with an eye roll. Hal thought otherwise.

"Ahh, that's it, isn't it? You're scared." His brother snorted but still didn't say anything. Well, if Jason wasn't gonna defend himself, then Dick would. Big brother mode activated.

"Excuse me, Lantern, but what the hell are you talking about? He literally shot a bomb at that alien. So, why would he be scared?"

"He hasn't given any evidence to suggest otherwise."

"When did he give evidence to suggest he was scared? Hmm?" Dick was starting to get annoyed. And so was Jason.

"You know what? Fine. I don't wanna work with you guys because most of you are either incompetent or assholes. In your case, both." Hal's ring started to glow and Jason met his glare head-on. "Carefully there, it almost looks like you're about to do something incredibly stupid. Which would prove my point."

Hal scoffed, "What? Putting you in your place? Maybe you truly are scared, if you're making threats."

Dick groaned internally. Well, isn't this going wonderfully?

"Oh, that wasn't a threat. You'll know when I threaten you. Trust me." Hal took a couple of steps forward, the ring casting everything around it in a green hue. Jason regarded him nonchalantly. Others around Hal tried to persuade him to return to his seat, but the man shook them off.

"No please, enlighten me. What exactly do you think you can do to me?" Jason shook his head in disbelief.

He took a sip of his cold coffee before saying, "You might have picked up on the fact I am not a patient guy by any means. So, do. Not. Test. Me."

Dick felt like screaming. If he thought Jason and Bruce were bad, then he didn't know how to describe Jason and Hal.

Hal threw his head back and laughed, "You're a special kind of stupid, you know that?"

Jason shrugged, letting the insult roll off him easily. "So I've been told."

At that, Hal sneered, "Oh, let me guess, you're the 'what doesn't kill me makes me stronger' kinda guy."

"No," Jason met his eyes with a smile, "I'm the 'what doesn't kill me better fucking run' kinda guy. So, if you are gonna man-up and actually do something, make it count. Because you won't get a second chance. Or are you too scared?"

Hal turned to Bruce, face red. "I thought you said you would talk to him?"

His brother chuckled, "Aww, you need B to fight your battles? That's cute."

Dick groaned internally as Hal's face darkened. Never let it be said that Jason doesn't know how to make a situation 100% worse.

"You know, I seem to recall you ignoring me telling you no a little while back," Bruce spoke. "Why shouldn't we ignore your 'no.'"

Scratch that. Bruce wears the 'royally fucks shit up' crown. Any humor instantly left Jason's face. Dick could see that fire coming back to life, ready to burn down anything in its path.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because last time, you put an innocent in danger."

"And you could be putting more innocents in danger by not helping us."

"Yeah, could. Not exactly a definite there, Nostradamus. I'm a regular ole' human. Aliens aren't exactly interested in me."

"But they are. So stop being childish. You're helping and that's final."

Jason shook his head in disbelief. His fingers tapped on his legs as he held his breath. Dick knew what he was doing. There ya go, Jay. Calm down. The silence was growing borderline deafening.

Bruce would be a pile of ash right now if looks could kill, that's for sure. Hell, Dick wanted to slap his mentor himself. You would think that Bruce would have learned by now that you cannot order Jason to do anything. As he said at that first meeting, if Jason doesn't want to help, he won't. You can't force him. It would be like trying to capture a hurricane with a butterfly net.

"No," Jason said, much too calmly for Dick's liking, "I'm not. I told you to stay away. You ignored that-"

"One would think aliens threatening the planet would be an exception," Bruce interrupted, gritting his teeth. But Jason continued.

"When you asked for my help, I said no. To which he," Jason pointed at Dick without breaking eye contact, "blackmailed me. Your terms were just that I had to listen to the plan and then decide whether I would help or not. And my decision is no." He squared his shoulders and tilted his head up, meeting Bruce's glare.

Has Dick mentioned how much he freaking loves Diana?! Because she is truly a wonderful woman (ahh, get it? ...sorry).

"Hood," she called softly. He hummed but made no other effort to acknowledge her. Diana walked over and gently gripped his chin. She turned Jason's head, forcing him to look at her, and thus, away from Bruce. She offered a smile before speaking. "Walk with me? Please?"

When he was younger, Jason idolized Wonder Woman. She was his absolute favorite, much to Bruce's chagrin. Dick could only hope that he still admired her enough to listen.

Jason jerked out of her hold and searched her eyes. For what, Dick couldn't say. But he must have found it because he gave a sharp nod. It was only after the pair left that Dick let out the air he didn't know he was holding.

He turned around to glare at Bruce. "Seriously?" His mentor could have at least had the decency to look guilty or ashamed. But then again, this is Batman.

Next to him, Tim added, "And you were doing well, too. But now, you're gonna make me do something I loathe." Dick tilted his head as his brother pulled out a $20 bill and slapped it down in front of Dick. From his other side, Damian reached forward, pulling the money towards him.

"Thank you," the youngest sang. Dick groaned and placed his head on his folded arms. Of course his brothers made a bet on Jason and Bruce.

"Oh by the way," Tim's voice came through muffled, "I found out who Carlos Orlando is and what he did."

Dick lifted his head just enough to read the screen. And the more he read, the more he felt the urge to throw up. His brother dealt with this alone?! They've all had cases go wrong, but this… this was horrific.

Eventually, he couldn't read anymore. For once, he wished a police report had fewer details.

Tim stopped reading before him, his skin a few shades whiter. Bruce still kept that blank mask on, but his fists were clenched tight. Damian tried to see but both he and Bruce held him back, causing the youngest to pout. That's fine; he can deal with a crabby Damian.

Dick placed his head back in his arms, vivid images of bloody women filled his head. The report said they had been raped, even after death. That alone turned his stomach. Some were beaten that they still have yet to be identified. Some were burned, others whipped. One woman was mauled by dogs. A couple had their necks snapped. A few were stabbed or shot. The police even suspected that some deaths were suicides.

The youngest girl was 8. He shuddered.

Orlando was a sex trafficker. Why kill merchandise (he gagged at the word)?

He shook the thought away. He doesn't care. Dick knows he should, but he doesn't at the moment. His thoughts drifted towards his brother.

He didn't read far enough to know if Orlando was dead. Jason was always particularly vindictive towards sex traffickers and if he stumbled across that… Well, who is he kidding? Dick knows Jason saw. Was it enough for his brother to break his no-kill streak? Would Dick even be mad if he did kill Orlando?

He would like to say no, that scumbags like Carlos Orlando deserve to rot in hell. But he still can't condone the taking of a life, no matter who.

At least Dick knows exactly what made Jason throw up this morning and put that haunted look on his face when J'onn said… his name.

If he is being honest with himself, he wished he didn't.

\--------------------------------------

Jason wanted to hit something. Bad.

Diana hadn't said a word when they walked away from the room. She had led him away from any burning ears and he allowed the silence to wash over him. It was almost cathartic. Almost.

Fucking Bruce.

Nope. Think about something else. His mind went blank. Great.

As though sensing his need for a distraction, Diana finally spoke.

"How are you, Jason?" He stopped in his tracks. Jason narrowed his eyes and suppressed the urge to take a step away. He opened his mouth, but Diana held up a hand.

"Yes, I know your name. Don't worry, I don't plan on sharing it." She jerked her head, signaling him to continue walking with her. He did but kept a safe distance between them. "You're probably wondering exactly how I know your name." It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway. "Well, I'll admit it took me a bit. But you seemed awfully familiar to me and I couldn't put my finger on why."

She led them down a corridor where the lights seemed less harsh. "The way you interacted with Richard should have been a dead giveaway. That, plus the fact he actually called you his brother earlier. And he doesn't use that term lightly." Jason held back an eye-roll. Leave it Dick to let something that stupid slip. "But I hope you'll forgive me for my less-than-stellar detective skills at that time. My mind was otherwise preoccupied.

"Then, you interacted with Batman. I thought to myself, 'You know who he reminds me of? That little Robin who used to stir up trouble with anything that breathed.'" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "You would have liked him. That boy could start an argument in an empty room."

Jason snorted.

"He was a sweet thing, though. Hot-headed for sure but had a good heart. When we heard of his death, oh there aren't words."

He paused and closed his eyes. Breathe. Jason always hated hearing about his death. The way people talked about it always rubbed him the wrong way. They were too gentle, carefully choosing words as if the wrong one would break him. Or they would pretend it was some grand secret he wasn't privy to. He knows about it. He was there too. The worst was the pity. Especially from Dick. The asshat would use those big golden retriever eyes and ask if he was okay, if he needed anything. He knew that Diana would have the same look on her face.

Why people still dwelled on it, he'll never know. He's moved on. Or at least he tries to. But every time he thinks he finally managed to put his death behind him, one of his dumbass siblings, or hell, even Bruce, will dredge it right back up. He gets it. He died. Let. It. Go.

Jason prepared himself for the inevitable, taking one last breath. Then he opened his eyes. And there it is.

Diana had a soft smile with searching eyes. Oh god, she probably thinks he was just having some horrid flashbacks or some other shit. She raised an eyebrow and he gave a quick nod.

"Bruce took it particularly hard." He kept his eyes forward as they continued their journey. Yes yes, he knows. He only hears about it all fucking time. After every argument, he'll get a text, call, or his least favorite, a personal visit. Usually from Dick. Sometimes Alfred or Tim. And they all say the same thing.

"Oh Jay, if you only saw him" or "he was quite distraught, Master Jason." Again, he gets it. At some point he might have even cared. But once you hear it over and over and over again in an attempt to make you feel guilty and make amends, well, it loses its appeal real quick. And - oh she's still talking about Bruce. Wonderful.

"-never seen him that bad. And trust me, I've seen him go through hell before." Jason only hummed. Ever observant, he caught the quick frown. What was she expecting? Him to go all 'aww poor Brucie?' Ha, fat chance.

"We still miss that boy, you know." Me too.

"So, imagine my surprise when I realized that this infamous Red Hood and that Robin are one and the same." Not quite.

"The thing that really confirmed it was your eyes. You got quite a unique color that I have never seen on anyone else. All you Gotham boys are like that. They seem just a touch greener than I remember. Though, I could be mistaken." Ahh, yes. Thank you, Lazarus Pit.

Diana stopped walking and turned so she stood in front of him. "Jason," she met his indifferent gaze, "I'm not going to try to change your mind about this. You made your decision and I respect it." I sense a but coming. "But I ask you to think about what that young boy would say if he were here."

She smiled again and squeezed his shoulder before walking back the way they came. Which left him all alone, completely unsupervised in the base of the world's greatest defenders. Who apparently were morons.

He leaned against the wall, letting his thoughts take over. What would that young boy say? Jason wanted to laugh. He knew exactly what that boy would say. You have to help! People are in danger and we have to save them! Come on, it'll be fun! We'll be heroes!

He shook his head. That kid was even more of an idiot than half the League. He was filled to the brim with hope and saw the good in people. He thought it was safe to rely on those who were supposed to protect him. Absolute fool.

That kid knew she cared more about her needles than him. So why did he think she changed? Because he was a fucking idiot.

Jason rubbed a hand down his face. Diana was right. That boy had a good heart. But it stopped beating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know some of you want to see Jason kick Justice League ass. It will happen I promise. Next time.

**Author's Note:**

> First post so I hope you enjoyed! I'm hoping this will be about 6 or 7 chapters. Let me know what you think!


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